Everlasting Change
by reisa223
Summary: They told me that Shirokin was starting a new co-ed program. I had nowhere else to go, so I jumped at the chance. Little did I know that I would be the only girl and that I would meet people who would change my life forever.
1. Chapter 1: Meeting 3D

**Meeting 3-D**

I stared down at the large group of eager looking guys.

"Nakajima Kana desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu*," I said with a bow.

The silence was immediately broken when the guys began to talk amongst themselves loudly.

The principal, the kind, short, nearly bald older man, cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Nakajima-san will be in Class 3-D."

For some reason, the male students gasped. Their reaction was not very different than the teachers' reactions when I had requested to be in Class groans and whispers broke out among the boys.

"Quiet!" the Vice-Principal, Sawatari-Kyoutou, roared. His beaky eyes glared at the students behind oversized glasses.  
"She doesn't know what Class 3-D is like. More than likely, she will end up changing classes."

He smiled at me, flashing me a toothy grin. It was rather creepy.

But really, what was wrong with Class 3-D?

Suddenly, a ragtag bunch of rowdy boys walked into the auditorium. I could see that this group stood out more than the rest of the school, and had the most interesting variety of people. When they saw me on the stage, they began to whistle and catcall.

"Ah...speaking of the devils. Class 3-D, you're late as usual," Sawatari-Kyoutou muttered.

"Nakajima-san is your new classmate. Treat her well," the principal said to the group. They stared back at him.

"CLASSMATE?!"

Apparently, many of the teachers had doubts about this as they exchanged uncertain glances with each other, and then nodded. And me? I just wanted to get off the stage already. I glanced at the guys as they stared at me, slow grins growing on their faces. They totally ignored the glares that the guys from the other classes gave them. I glanced at the guys. This was going to be interesting.

"What's your name?"  
"Why are you at this school?"  
"Do you have a boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes at the questions.

"I'm Nakajima Kana. I got expelled from an all girls' school last week, and supposedly I'm the only girl that showed up for the Co-ed transition program at this school. My relationship status is none of your business," I answered.

Sawatari-Kyoutou glanced at me. "It's hard to believe that someone like you got expelled," he remarked.

I didn't blame him for not believing the records, considering how hard I was trying to impress the teachers here. I was wearing the school uniform from my previous school, white collared shirt with a navy blue mini-skirt and knee high socks, and I was actually wearing them in a neat way. I looked, as much as I wanted to gag, like a perfect school girl.

But I had to impress them, at least for now. I had to graduate. Getting expelled again would mean I never would.

Sawatari-Kyoutou led me to my homeroom class, 3-D. I had chosen to join this particular class only because it was the number of the homeroom class I was in previously. I could already tell that I was going to like this class. One, because it was in the corner of the school, and two, because everyone seemed to think I wouldn't fit in here. Well, we would see about that.

When we walked in, there was an empty seat smack in the center of the front row and all the boys were fighting for a seat next to mine.

"Where's the teacher?!" Sawatari shouted. He then turned to me. "Tell me any time if you don't like this class. I'll switch you out immediately. Now I have to go find the homeroom teacher. Wait here."

He walked out, searching for a certain Yamaguchi Kumiko. It was such an old-school name. She was probably old...and mean.

I glanced at the guys, who grinned back at me.

"I'd rather sit in the back," I said, walking over. I grabbed the desk and pushed it to the back, near the stairs. The guys watched me with disappointed looks, but didn't try to crowd around me. I realized that it was probably because the group of guys in the back had already claimed that area.

The guy sitting in the desk near me appeared to be sleeping. He looked up when I glanced at him, gave me a bored look, then went back to sleep. He had a nice face, but his hair was long and flipped out at the ends. I didn't understand the appeal.

"Where's the girls' bathroom?" I asked the guys.

They looked at each other confusedly. "There...is none?"

I sighed. "Then don't follow me to the boys' bathroom, okay?"

I changed quickly out of the wretched skirt and stuffed it in my schoolbag. Sawatari had given me a black skirt to match the school uniform, which consisted of a white button down shirt, black pants, and a black blazer, but I figured a skirt would not be ideal in an environment full of hormone-crazy teenage boys. I pulled on black pants and the blazer, before stepping out of the stall, only to come face to face with the majority of my class.

"Perverts," I muttered and shoved past them.

When I returned to class, there were 5 boys sitting in desks near my own, including the sleeping guy. The other four watched me fascinatedly.

"Kana-chan, right? I'm Minami Youichi." the orange-haired guy said, giving me a flirty wink.

"Kana," I said firmly. "Call me Kana-chan and die."

"So...Kana, are you single?" the blond guy said.

"Single and not available," I muttered.

I quickly learned about these 5 guys. The blond guy was Uchiyama Haruhiko. Noda Takeshi was the punkish looking guy, Kumai Teruo was the big guy with a blond buzz cut, and Sawada Shin was the sleeping guy.

Minami was a player, not to my surprise, but was really stubborn when it came to having opinions of his own.

Uchiyama seemed pretty sensitive, though he tried really hard not to show it, and when he got mad, he got extremely mad.

Noda was the one who seemed to always have his camera and his mini PC with him. He was into fashion, which I found amusing, but was an interesting person to listen to.

Kumai was called Kuma by his friends, probably because his size made him comparable to a bear and his rough behavior. He ate a lot too.

And the silent one, Sawada. He always seemed bored and sleepy which was weird because he was also the leader of the group. They always listened to him.

Though they were a ragtag bunch, they immediately adopted me into their group. I enjoyed the way that our conversations were easygoing and carefree.

"So where's the teacher?" I asked.

The door slammed open at that moment. In walked the most extraordinary teacher I would ever meet in my life.

But I didn't know that. Yet.

_*Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu: the closest translation would be "nice to meet you"_

**Author's Note: Hi everyone, I'm Reisa. I posted this story at winglin a while back, but now winglin is acting up, so I thought I'd post it here. **  
**The story will follow the drama rather closely, with a few OCs and pretty much all of the original cast. Gokusen is one of my favorite dramas, so I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing this.**


	2. Chapter 2: New Friends

**New Friends**

A young woman wearing a red sports jersey suit rushed into the room. Her pigtails were messily done and her glasses were askew. So this was Yamaguchi Sensei…

"Rather nerdy looking," I muttered to myself. I hadn't expected her to be so young.

Sawada glanced at me and said blankly, "She's a lot more than she looks."

"Oi, Yankumi!" Minami shouted. "You're late!"

"Sorry, I overslept," she said sheepishly.

"Yankumi?" I said. What was that, her nickname?

"Her name's Yamaguchi Kumiko," Uchiyama explained. "We shortened it to Yankumi."

Oh. I didn't know that people actually called teachers by their nicknames to their face.

"Yamaguchi Sensei! You're late AND you have a new student!" Sawatari Kyoutou said sternly from the doorway.

"New student?" Yamaguchi Sensei, or Yankumi as I began to call her in my mind, asked.

Sawatari scanned the room for me, or rather for the "perfect school girl" I had been ten minutes ago.

"Wait, where is she? Did you fools scare her off already?!" he demanded.

I raised a lazy arm in the air. "I'm here, sir."

The class began to laugh at him. "Who's the fool now?"

"Hmph. Well, take care of your class, Yamaguchi Sensei!" Sawatari said with an exaggerated glare and stormed off.

Yankumi turned to me and smiled.

"I'm Yamaguchi Sensei. You can call me Yankumi if you want, since the class came up with that nickname for me. Can you introduce yourself to us?"

I stood up and Noda gave me a thumbs-up with a grin.

"I'm Nakajima Kana. Don't call me Kana-chan…just Kana is fine. I've been expelled from three schools for violence or violent behavior. Anyways, I chose Class 3-D because it was my class number at the last school I was at. I figure I belong here anyways, since you guys seem pretty cool. I can handle all of you," I said, throwing Minami a smirk. "So yoroshiku*."

The guys whooped and rose in applause, except Sawada. He just raised an eyebrow at me before going back to sleep. The guys continued to applaud, which was pretty stupid, because I hadn't said much. But I felt welcome. I sat down and waited for Yankumi to give me the "lecture" about the importance of school and not getting in trouble or to just stare at me in disbelief.

However, she simply smiled. "Let's hope you won't get expelled again," she said cheerfully.

I stared at her. Most teachers just gave me a look, as if they didn't want to deal with me. How could she laugh off my expulsions like they didn't mean anything? Most teachers assumed I would get kicked out anyways.

"She's different," Sawada said, summing it up in two words. I looked over at him so he could elaborate, but his head was down on the desk again.

"So I guess I should start class now!" Yankumi said, and then the bell rang. Everyone stood up and walked out of class. I only had a brief look at her dejected form before Uchiyama grabbed my school bag and dragged me out of the room with them.

* * *

After school, Kuma asked me if I liked my first day.

"It was alright, I guess," I said, unbuttoning my white collared shirt to reveal the gray tank top I wore underneath.

"So you want to hang out with us?" Minami asked. I shrugged. "I'll show you how to have a good time," he said suggestively, swinging an arm around me. I looked at him, wondering how I should beat him up.

"Oi, you have a girl already," Uchiyama pointed out.

"So?" Minami smirked.

"So I get first dibs on Kana," Uchiyama said, shoving Minami's arm off to replace it with his own.

Sawada rolled his eyes while Noda egged them on.

"Hey, I'm not an object to be fought over!" I said angrily. Uchiyama immediately removed his arm.

"Sorry," he and Minami muttered, and I glared at them.

"I suggest keeping your arms to yourself from now on," I said firmly. "But buy me ice cream and I might forgive you this time."

"Nice," Kuma said, smiling at the thought of food. "Yeah, buy me one too, while you're at it."

Uchiyama and Minami looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure, for Kana."

"HEY!"

The guys ignored Kuma and began to walk toward the commercial area of town.

We hung out for hours. I don't know how time passed so quickly, but I found myself enjoying myself in the company of others for the first time in a long time. Uchi, as I called Uchiyama for short, and I hit it off really well, as if we had always known each other. We got on each other's nerves a lot by teasing, but it wasn't bad.

"Uchi-chan, who did your hair?" I asked, reaching over to give his blond hair a touch.

"Don't call me Uchi-chan!" he growled. "And don't touch my hair!"

"Uchi-chan, Uchi-chan!" Noda chanted, hopping around Uchi with his hands in his pockets.

"Shut up!"

When the lights began to illuminate the city, we began to head home. Minami spotted his girlfriend in the crowd and decided to go with her, waving good bye to us. Sawada also left us before we reached the residential area. I didn't really notice, because Sawada rarely talked to me anyway. I was in a good mood all the way home.

* * *

The next morning, I met Uchiyama on the way to class. He looked pretty happy.

"Yo," he said to me, then slung a casual arm across my shoulder. I gave him a look, but I didn't really care. He noticed, and didn't remove his arm.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked. Something good must have happened.

"Maybe because I have a pretty girl on my arm and I look good," he said, grinning at me.

"So you're using me," I said, looking at him with a cold expression. He stepped back and his expression changed.

"No, Kana, I was just kidding," he said slowly, trying not to make me angry. I shrugged.

"Baka," I said, laughing at him. He realized that I had been making a fool of him, and shoved me lightly. I shoved him back before he replaced his arm on my shoulder.

Minami suddenly stumbled out of the teacher's lounge as we passed it. He had a large bruise on his cheek and a cut running down his face.

"Minami," I said, staring at him. Uchi looked worried.

Suddenly, Sawada also walked out of the teacher's lounge, but Sawatari accompanied him. He merely glanced at us, then was led away. I saw the bruise forming on his cheek.

"What happened?" I demanded. Minami shrugged. He had barely even looked at Sawada.

"Yesterday, I got beat up by these high-school punks after you guys left. Then this morning, Shin told me to stop seeing my girl, so I socked him. We got yelled at for fighting."

"Then why is Shin being punished?" Uchi asked, confused.

"Because it looked like he did a lot of damage to me, and that I only defended myself."

I glared at him. "Some friend you are. Sawada didn't even touch you!"

"What was I supposed to do? Tell them I got beat up by a gang? That would have gotten me expelled! Besides, he had no right to say that to me. Who does he think he is, telling me to stop seeing my girlfriend?"

We walked to class in silence. I was angry at the way things were being unfairly carried out. In the class, Sawada was always the quiet one, but without him, it was quieter.

Halfway through Yankumi's lecture, all of the teachers burst into our classroom. They were moaning about how we had wrecked Sawatori Kyoutou's car. We all went outside and saw that his nasty yellow Volkswagen beetle had been covered with graffiti with ridiculous statements about him. I almost burst out laughing, but kept my emotions in check.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU COULD LET THEM DO THIS TO MY CAR!" Sawatari yelled at Yankumi.

"How do you know that they did it?" Yankumi asked innocently. 3-D all nodded.

"BECAUSE OF THAT!" he yelled, pointing to the paint traces on our classroom floor.

"Why couldn't you guys be a bit more discreet?" I heard Yankumi mutter. I raised an eyebrow at her comment. A teacher was egging us on to graffiti on people's cars?

To Sawatari, she said, "Don't worry, Kyoutou, I'll deal with it."

"You better," he growled, and left our classroom, the other teachers following him.

"Class, I know you guys meant it as a joke…" Yankumi began.

"He deserved it!" a classmate yelled out. The rest of the class grumbled in agreement.

"Whether he did or not, it's only fair if we clean it up for him. We're all meeting after school to wash his car, okay?" she said. The class mumbled in response.

After school, Minami left, waving to the rest of the class.

"Wait, Minami! What about the Kyoutou's car?" Yankumi said, trying to follow him.

"Don't stop him," Uchi said, holding Yankumi back. "He has a date with his girl."

"A date? High school love," she sighed. "We'll overlook it this time. To work, guys!"

"In our school clothes?" someone asked. I knew where this was going.

"That's true. We don't want to mess them up. Go change into your PE clothes and meet me by Kyoutou's car in 15 minutes," Yankumi said, letting us go.

No one met her. We all left, leaving Yankumi to wash the car. I grinned. I had nothing to do with the graffiti, but I knew that no one wanted to wash it off.

"What happened to Sawada?" I asked Uchi, Kuma, and Noda.

"It seems like they aren't going to let him go to class before he writes an apology statement. They're giving him until the end of tomorrow. If he doesn't write it, he'll be expelled," Noda explained to me.

I stared at him. Sawada hadn't done anything wrong. From what I knew about him, I figured he wasn't going to write the essay.

We all went home, having doubts about whether Sawada would ever return to class 3-D.

* * *

The next day, Minami came to school in a really bad mood. When Uchi asked him what was wrong, he told us that his girlfriend broke up with him.

"And after she did, the leader of the gang that beat me up told me that she was actually his girl. The gang told me to meet them by the harbor after school. He said that if I was foolish enough to try to take his girl, that I would meet them." Minami said.

"You aren't going, are you?" Kuma asked him. Minami glared at him.

"Do you think I have a choice? Of course I'm going, and nobody can stop me."

The entire day, people tried to convince him not to go, but he didn't listen.

When the last bell rang, Minami left the classroom, much to the horror of the class.

"He's going to get beat to a pulp," they said, talking among themselves.

"Why isn't anybody going after him?" I asked. I figured that somebody would at least go.

"You think we stand a chance? You heard him. No one is going to stop him. If we go, we're only going to get beat up like he is."

I stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom," I said. Already, I was pissed. No one knew what friendship meant in this freakin' school. I was going after Minami.

_*Yoroshiku: again, more of a "nice to meet you" _


	3. Chapter 3: First Fight

**First Fight**

When I reached the harbor, I found Minami in a junk yard by the pier. The gang had already beaten him up, and as he lay sprawled on the ground, they walked over his beaten body. To my surprise, Sawada was there as well. He was fighting the gang to the best of his ability, telling them to keep their hands off of his friend. The entire gang was now focused on him, shoving him around and punching him. I angrily made my way over to them and the leader, Watanabe, spotted me.

"Kana," he said, "what are you doing here?" I just glared at him. Sawada glanced at me, clutching his stomach.

"Back off of them," I demanded. "You've done enough."

"Why, these your friends?" Watanabe asked. I couldn't answer. Yes, no, maybe?

"And if they are, what's it to you?" I said finally. He sneered.

"This guy dared to touch my girl," Watanabe said, indicating Minami. "And this one thinks he can take on all of us by himself. Some friends," he scoffed. He kicked them both.

"I said to back off!" I shouted, grabbing the leader by the collar, landing a direct punch to his face. All of the gang now turned to me. I stood, breathing heavily.

Suddenly, a large wave of water splashed onto the gang. Some of the water caught me, causing my bangs to become stuck to my face.

"What the hell?!" one of the guys shouted, and they all turned.

My eyes widened when I saw Yankumi standing there with a huge metal container.

"And who are you?" Watanabe spat, pushing his wet hair back.

"Me? I'm their homeroom teacher."

"Yankumi?" Minami groaned from where he lay.

She threw the container at the gang and began to walk towards us.

"She's a teacher?!" the gang began to laugh. "What the heck?"

"Sawada, Minami, Kana, go," she said. We stared at her. "Go quickly!"

I stumbled over to Minami, but he stopped me from helping him up. I watched Yankumi from where I crouched with him.

"Stop messing with us!" Watanabe shouted.

"Shut up!" she demanded. He stared at her. "I'm really pissed off right now!"

One of Watanabe's underlings strode to her. "Teachers shouldn't get involved," he growled, but she grabbed his wrist and twisted it, shoving him to the side.

Another attacked her, but all she had to do was dodge and punch before he fell to the ground. He tried to grab a metal bar nearby but Yankumi stepped on it.

"If a high school kid handles something like this, they'll get hurt," she warned. The whole time, she kept her eyes on Watanabe.

"Are you going to hit me?" he asked.

"If it's to protect my students, I'll do anything, understand?" she said harshly. She continued to walk towards them, and Watanabe kept stepping back before turning completely to run. His gang followed them.

When Yankumi turned her eyes on us, we looked away, expecting excessive scolding from her.

"This is what friendship is," she softly said, and I stared up at her. What?

She tried to help Sawada up, but he shoved her hand away, standing up on his own. I pulled Minami to his feet and allowed him to lean on me for support.

"Let's get you guys cleaned up," Yankumi said and led us out of that area.

She tended to Sawada and Minami's wounds on a hill by the river.

"You knew, didn't you, that Minami's girlfriend was two-timing him?" Yankumi said to Sawada. At his silence, she continued. "That's your reason for fighting with him, isn't it?"

"What's it to you?" he said.

"You have some good qualities," she smiled.

Suddenly, Noda, Uchi, and Kuma appeared, all padded up and holding janitorial items as weapons.

"You guys," she said.

"Are you stupid, Yankumi?" Uchi demanded.

"Did you really think you could win against them alone?" Noda added.

"You guys are late," I cut in, but grinned anyhow.

"Shut up!"

"Shin, don't you have to write the apology statement?"

"That doesn't matter," he said.

"Idiot!" Minami coughed. "What if you get expelled?"

"I won't let that happen," Yankumi said. "Whatever happens, I'lll protect my students. After all, I am your teacher."

We stared at her. I didn't doubt the sincerity of her words, but because of my past experiences with teachers and adults in general, I couldn't help but remain skeptical.

Sawada stared at the sky. I stepped forward.

"Come on, Sawada. Your friends still need you. We want you to stay," I said.

He looked at me carefully, as if for the first time. I tried to look solemn.

"Friends?" he asked slowly. I stuck out my hand.

"Friends," I said firmly, and we shook hands. Everyone smiled.

* * *

"Kana, what happened to your hand?"

I threw my school bag on the counter. "Nothing."

My brother-figure, Shun, grabbed my wrist. "Were you fighting again? You're going to get expelled if you keep doing this."

"I know. It's just…today, I had a good reason."

He raised his eyebrow as he treated the scraped skin. I began to tell him about Yankumi and the guys I had met.

"Sounds like just the teacher you need," he remarked, as I winced from the alcohol stinging my hand.

"Maybe."

* * *

The next morning, Sawada turned in a long apology statement, which he had made extra long.

"Kana fought so well," Minami bragged while we sat in the back before class started. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"It was only a punch," I said, but noticed Sawada watching me carefully. I knew that he was thinking about how Watanabe knew me in the first place.

"Oh yeah. Now that I am single again," Minami said, running a hand through his hair. He looked at me. "Kana, I was wondering if…"

"Nope. I don't want a boyfriend I have to defend all the time," I said abruptly.

"Oooh!" the guys teased Minami. Sawada looked at me and I swear I saw a hint of a smile.

"But Minami, I will gladly be your friend," I continued. "I always defend my friends."

"Deal," he said, grinning. "Now I have to find another girl…" I smirked. Some people never change.

Uchi put an arm around me, earning a new round of teasing. I rolled my eyes. Like I said, some people never change. I swatted at his arm.

"But I wonder why Yankumi is so strong," Minami said suddenly. "She was good."

I looked away, contemplating. Yankumi had her secrets. I had mine.

At that moment, Yankumi walked into class, and the guys quieted down.

"Ohayou*," she said.

"Osu*," Uchi mumbled.

"'hayou," Minami added.

"Good morning," Noda said in English without looking at her. Kuma saluted her. And for once, Sawada was sitting up and paying attention.

She turned her eyes on me and I nodded to her.

"Let's begin class," she said with a smile.

* * *

*Ohayou: Good Morning  
*Osu: Guy's way of saying "good morning"

**Author's note: Thanks for reading. Constructive criticism welcomed. I'd love to hear your thoughts. **


	4. Chapter 4: Judging by Appearances

**Judging by Appearances**

I was finally getting the hang of things at Shirokin Gakuen. The class seemed to accept me and no longer made stupid passes at me for being a girl. After all, I was now "part" of Sawada's group, which seemed to control the works in Class 3-D.

"Hey, you hear about this?" Shun asked me one day when I was getting ready to go to school. He had the TV on, and I leaned closer to look. There was a news flash about a young masked man that kept targeting women, catching them in dark alleyways at night and stealing their purses. The suspect was believed to be a young male student. The news reporter warned viewers to be careful at night.

"Be careful, Kana," Shun said to me, but in a teasing manner.

"Do you see me carrying a purse?" I shot back. He threw a pillow at me.

"Have a good day at school, kid."

"Ohayou," the class greeted me when I walked in.

"Yo," I answered, opening my locker and putting my bag inside. "Hey, Uchi…"

He walked away from me without a word. I glanced at Noda and Kuma, and they shrugged.

From that point on, I noticed more and more changes during the day in Uchi. He was quiet, hardly ate, and could not pay attention for long. Sawada seemed to notice too.

Even when the guys were getting riled up over a picture of some skanky girl on Noda's PC, he hardly made a sound.

"What's up?" Sawada asked Uchi, who looked at him in surprise.

"Nothing," he answered and decided to leave early. "Hey guys, I'm going home," he said.

After he walked out of the room, we all turned and faced each other.

"There's something weird going on with the way he's acting," Minami said.

I decided to go after him. The way he was acting worried me. I caught him at the school gate.

"You sure you don't want to hang out today?" I asked. He looked as he was struggling for an answer.

"I...I'm busy today," he said. "Sorry." with that, he took off.

"Uchi had things to do," I reported blankly to the rest when they met me at the gate.

"I saw him at the arcade last night. He lost a game and got pissed, so he got up to leave. He crashed into an arcade worker and snapped at him to be careful," Sawada said.

I sighed. This was not the Uchiyama we all knew.

Minami all of a sudden put his arm around me. I glared at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I'm acting like Uchi," he said casually. "Don't tell me you don't think we haven't noticed you two. Are you going out?"

I shoved Minami's arm off, much to the amusement of the others. "No," I said to him. "And don't get any ideas."

* * *

That night, the burglar struck again.

The next morning, I was furious to see a bunch of WANTED signs posted everywhere. Apparently, last night's victim had managed to pull the mask off, revealing a man with a mass of blond hair. The picture next to the description, to my horror, looked exactly like Uchi.

To make matters worse, Uchi didn't show up to school.

"HE DIDN'T DO IT!" I shouted at a group of gossiping guys. Minami and Noda had to hold me back before I pounced on them to beat them up. The other guys ran away.

"Hey, calm down," Sawada said to me. I exhaled an angry breath.

"Maybe he feels uncomfortable about coming to school where everyone will talk about him," Minami said. We all considered this as I pushed Minami and Noda's arms away.

"After all, these posters are put up almost everywhere," Noda pointed out. "Who wouldn't?"

"How about going out and finding the culprit?" Kuma said excited but got hit on the head by Minami.

"How?" Minami asked.

"Well…I dunno…what about trying to nab the guy while he's in action?"

"Baka," Noda said. "That would never work, right Shin?"

Sawada looked up. "It would be good way to cure boredom," he said.

"Eh? Shin's actually into it?" Minami said, jumping off his desk.

"But how would we find the culprit?" I asked. It wasn't going to be easy. That was for sure.

"The culprit always strikes in dark alleyways around the same time. If we stake the area and nab him before the police do and turn him in, it'll look pretty good for us."

"Whoa," the guys said impressed.

"That's a brilliant plan," a voice said.

We all nodded, then turned to see Yankumi standing there.

"Yankumi!" Minami said loudly.

"How come you're standing there like that?" Noda demanded.

"You guys are extremely impressive. You will do anything for Uchi, wouldn't you? That is a great sign of friendship. We will catch the culprit and clear Uchi's name!" Yankumi said dramatically. "You guys are awesome, just like I thought. That leaves me no choice but to help you guys. Let's find the new culprit, OH~!" she said, pumping a fist in the air. She whirled around and looked at us excitedly while we stared at her.

"You guys do it with me. OH!" she said.

"Oh..." Minami, Noda, and Kuma said unenthusiastically.

"That's weak! Again! OH!" she repeated.

"OH!" Minami, Noda, and Kuma said, whooping loudly.

"Come on, Sawada, Kana. OH~!"

"Are you stupid?" Sawada said, and walked away. I rolled my eyes as Noda "collapsed" onto Minami at the lack of enthusiasm from Sawada. To me, finding the culprit wasn't some game to me. I wanted to clear Uchi's name. Things were going to get interesting...

* * *

"Where are you going?" Shun asked me.

"Culprit hunting," I responded as I pulled on a jacket.

"…You're not going to mess around, are you?"

"I promise to come back in one piece," I muttered, before going out.

The 6 of us met at a park near the business district. It was pretty weird to see the guys wearing casual clothing as opposed to their uniforms for once.

"Don't get in the way," was all Sawada said to Yankumi, who began to retort angrily. Whenever she got mad, she always used really rough language, which really didn't suit her.

"Come on," I said to the others, walking after Sawada.

When we all met up again in an hour, no one had any leads.

"Well, I guess we'd better stop for now. There's always tomorrow," Yankumi said.

"Eh? Tomorrow?" Kuma asked.

"Of course! You guys came up with this plan!"

Minami groaned. "We never meant this to be so serious…"

"You mean, clearing Uchi's name is not serious?" I snapped and they shut up, staring at the ground.

"Uchi…" Sawada suddenly said. We looked up and saw him staring at us.

"Hey, guess what Uchi? We're all trying to clear your name!" Yankumi said. "We all believe you, so don't worry about showing up to school."

"What are you talking about? I'm not going to school because it's pointless, not because of anything else. Don't do things that I didn't ask for, got it? It just gets in the way," he muttered, walking past us.

"Don't you know that your mom is worried about you?" Yankumi demanded.

"Parents don't have nothing to do with this," Uchi hissed and walked away.

I ran and caught up to him, forcing him to look at me.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"It has nothing to do with you," he said, wrenching his arm away from me.

"Yeah? Then it's a waste worrying about you, isn't it?" I said angrily.

"…Kana…" he said hesitantly.

Suddenly, we saw movement and looked up. Sawada stood on the top of the stairs near us.

"It's true that we're just messing at first…but some people are serious about this," he said.

"So what?" Uchi said. I stared at him. Did he not know how to consider other people's feelings?

"Fine," I said. "I'll leave you alone. Deal with your problems yourself."

I walked away, disappointed. I thought that I had finally found some friends I could trust. But they were the all too typical group of guys, immature and irresponsible.

But I wasn't one to judge, was I?


	5. Chapter 5: Ditching

**Ditching**

I saw Uchi the next morning. He was headed toward a park away from school. At first, I had this urge to just ignore him, but I couldn't help following him. He walked over to a cluster of bushes that concealed him from everyone else. I heard soft whimpering and saw a small cardboard box from which a small puppy crawled out. Uchi smiled as he fed it some pieces of sandwich meat.

"Kawaii~" two elementary school girls exclaimed when they spotted the puppy as they walked by. "Can we pet it please?"

"Okay," Uchi relented. When he looked up, he saw me standing there. He stared for a moment before looking away.

"So. Is this why you're ditching school?" I asked casually.

"It's a lot more complicated than that!" he said angrily. I sat down by him and smirked.

"Well, I don't know. Feeding a stray puppy seems like a good reason to ditch."

Uchi just stared at me, trying to decide whether I was serious or just messing with him. He gave up and sighed, leaning against the tree behind him.

"Look, I've got all the time you need, if you're going to talk to me," I said.

"Aren't you mad at me?" he asked me, turning his head to look at me.

"I am. But it's not fair for me to say that you're not a good friend if I don't try to be a good friend to you."

His mouth twitched as he contemplated this. Then he began to speak.

"I live with my mom, and we're not that well off. Last month, my mom hurt her back, and that's slowed down her work. I feel like all she works for is for me, and I feel bad, watching her struggle. So I…I want a job. Then we don't have to strain to make ends meet, and she doesn't have to overwork herself like she does now."

I closed my eyes, just listening to him. Uchi really was a good person, and I felt bad for thinking otherwise.

"All that for your mom?" I asked. He nodded, plucking absentmindedly at the grass.

Suddenly, my cell phone rang, and we both were startled by the sound.

"You with Uchi?" Sawada asked when I picked up.

"Yeah," I answered. 'Sa-wa-da,' I mouthed to Uchi, who looked hesitant.

"…Is he okay?" Sawada asked.

"We're fine."

"Look, Yamaguchi has this weird plan to catch the culprit, so meet us after school, same place as yesterday?" he said.

"Sure," I said. At least Yankumi seemed to be serious about this, which was more than what I could say about the rest of the guys.

I hung up and smiled at Uchi. "Seems like I'm ditching with you." I reached forward to caress the puppy's soft fur. It licked my hand, nuzzling its cold wet nose against my palm.

For the rest of the morning, Uchi and I took care of the puppy and talked about random things.

"Where do you live?" he asked me.

"That's a secret," I said, and he laughed. "What?"

He just shook his head in amusement. "Alright then. Guess we won't be going over to study anytime soon."

"Yes, please don't," I replied. The chaos that would occur if they came over…

"I'm going to buy us some lunch. Takoyaki okay?" he asked me, standing up. I nodded.

"We'll split," I said, passing him some bills.

When he came back, he kept glancing over his shoulder.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"Oh nothing. Just the guys who have the takoyaki stand are sort of strange. They asked me if I know Yankumi, and I said yes, and they told me to always listen to what she says."

Okay…

"So what do you think of Yankumi?" I asked him as we ate the takoyaki.

"She's…interesting, I guess," he answered. "but she's different than the other teachers. She saved Kuma's butt when she first got here."

He began to tell me of an incident between Kuma and Sawatari-Kyoutou that occurred during Yankumi's first few weeks teaching Class 3-D. Kuma had taken a bag from Sawatari as a joke, but that bag had contained a large sum of money. On the way home from school, however, some unruly gang had come across Kuma and had taken the money from him. When confronted by the teachers, Kuma lied and said that the bag he had been seen holding had contained donuts. Yankumi was the only one who believed him, and she had gone out of her way to search for the bag that he had supposedly thrown into the river. She searched for it all night in the litter-strewn riverbank so she could prove Kuma's innocence. When Kuma saw this, he confessed to her that he had taken the money. She then somehow replaced the money and returned it to Sawatari, saying that she had found the bag of money on the school grounds.

"After that, she promised to see our entire class graduate," Uchi said. "But I guess you can tell by now that it won't be easy. Most of us don't think we can graduate anyways."

"No offense to her, but she's sort of stupid. What kind of teacher would do all that for a student, especially people like us?" I said skeptically.

"I don't know," Uchi said with a shrug. "Shin told her that there's no way we would trust any teacher. Maybe she just wants to prove him wrong or something. Anyhow, it doesn't make a difference since I'm quitting school anyways."

We fell into silence. I wanted to tell him not to quit, that he would be sorely missed if he did. But this was his own decision. I had no right to tell him what to do, especially since he was doing this for a good reason.

* * *

Uchi left soon afterwards, saying that he had an interview for a job.

"Good luck," I said.

"…You won't tell the others?"

"No. It's not their business."

He nodded. "Thanks."

I played with the puppy for a little while longer. It was funny how all of us in 3-D had such a disregard for adults, and yet Uchi still managed to care that much about his mom, even though he didn't quite show it in the most obvious way. I wondered about what I would do if I were in his position. I didn't quite know what it was like to have such a loving relationship with one's parent.

I checked my watch and stood up. Time to meet Sawada and the others.

"Hey guys," I greeted when I reached our meeting spot.

"Kana~, ditching school with Uchi now, are we?" Minami teased.

"Yeah, whatever," I said.

"No really," he insisted, "how was it?"

"How was what?" I asked, getting irritated.

"The DATE!" Minami, Noda, and Kuma chorused.

"They think you guys ditched to go out," Sawada explained monotonously.

"Did you get some romance going?" Noda prodded with a grin, and that did it.

"Shut the hell up. There was no date, so quit talking like we went on one," I said, glaring at them.

Sawada looked at me and smirked. What was up with that?

"It's just something they'd obviously assume," he said. I shot him a look. He didn't need to rub it in.

"Ya~ho~" a voice called, interrupting the conversation.

We looked over and her and did a double take. It was Yankumi…or not. She was wearing knee-high white boots, polka-dotted gray leggings, really short shorts, a tight shirt, and a blonde wig. She did look pretty without her glasses though.

"I tried dressing up in the now-fashion," she said. "Cool, right? The culprit targets women with purses. I'm the perfect bait," Yankumi beamed, swinging a large purse.

"What the heck?!" Kuma exclaimed and I snickered.

"And why the heck are you wearing sneakers?!" Noda demanded.

"So I can run faster!"

"No one dresses like this nowadays!" Minami groaned. He was right. There was no way that anyone would target someone dressed like Yankumi. It would be too…weird.

"Sawada, how is it?" she asked.

He had been laughing behind her back but he coolly now gazed at her. "I guess it's okay."

"HUH?!" the rest of us exclaimed. THAT was okay?

"Yosh! Let's go!" Yankumi said.

* * *

Two hours later, it was already dark and I was hungry. Takoyaki doesn't last long in the system, it seems. Yankumi was still strutting on the overpass. Everyone else was bored.

"The culprit hasn't shown up!" Kuma complained while eating his fifth pastry.

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Noda moaned, leaning back tiredly.

"No one's going to target some crazy person like her," Sawada said.

I stared at him. We knew that, but why then would he allow her to waste our time like that?

Before I could say anything, my phone rang.

"Chiba!" I said angrily in a bit of a panic. "You're not supposed to call me right now!"

The guys all stared at me, interested in my phone call.

"Look, I'll talk to you later," I said, and hung up.

"Who was that?" Noda asked, tilting his head at me.

"Umm…"

We suddenly heard a scream. "Help! Someone! I'm getting robbed!"

_No way_.

Our plan had worked.


	6. Chapter 6: Sweet and Bitter Sentiments

**Author's note: Long chapter compared to the previous ones. Thanks for reading! :]**

* * *

**Sweet and Bitter Sentiments**

We all ran toward the woman who was screaming for help. The thief, seeing us coming, began to run away, and we were hindered slightly when a car pulled up in front of us.

I ran around the car and sprinted after the guy, who was definitely not Uchi as far as I could tell. The guy ran into Yankumi at the other end of the tunnel, where she somehow managed to stop him.

"Yankumi, are you alright?" Minami shouted from behind me.

Although it seemed like she was holding down the culprit in a headlock, she began to wail,

"He's got a hold of my arm!"

I was confused because she looked perfectly fine, but I quickly pushed her out of the way and held him down to the ground until Sawada, Minami, and Noda came and tackled him in order.

"WAAHHH!!!" Kuma shouted, running towards us.

"No, Kuma, stop!!" Yankumi said frantically, but he dove anyways, landing on top of the guys in a flying leap. I winced at the groans of the others underneath Kuma, glad to be standing instead of getting crushed by Kuma's weight.

When the dogpile managed to untangle itself, we stood in a ring around the thief. Yankumi slowly lifted off his mask and sunglasses to reveal an old bald guy.

"This guy isn't a student at our school…" Kuma said.

"He's not even young," Yankumi muttered, and we all sighed in exasperated relief.

"He's the arcade manager that Uchi bumped into," Sawada said. I stared at the unconscious man.

"He was framing Uchi," I growled. Sawada put out an arm to stop me.

"He's out cold. There's no need to beat him up. Come on, let's turn him in."

* * *

The next day, the 5 of us were called into the teacher's lounge.

Sawatari stared at us in disbelief as Shinohara-san, the on-site detective, read us a certificate of appreciation. Yankumi was beaming the entire time, as if she was being given the certificate. Noda had a hand over his heart, while Kuma kept nodding in agreement to what was being read. I honestly didn't want a certificate. As friends, it was what was expected of us to do. Instead, I kept staring at Shinohara-san, trying to avoid his line of sight. It wouldn't be good if he looked and remembered me for future reference.

"You should be proud of them, Kyoutou," Shinohara-san said to Sawatari.

"Well, it is rare that they do anything good for the community," was the reply.

"I guess I'll take a picture then," Ida Sensei, the physical education teacher/sports team coach, said.

While Noda, Minami, and Kuma posed with the certificate, Yankumi barged into the picture, taking the center stage. I couldn't help smiling a little bit. No matter how halfhearted the original attempt at clearing Uchi's name had been to them, they still managed to make it fun.

I slipped out of the teacher's lounge as soon as I could and called Uchi on his cell phone.

"Hey, we caught the thief that was framing you," I said, describing as quickly as I could the events of the previous night.

"Yeah?" Uchi responded tiredly.

"…You okay?" I asked.

"I can't seem to find a job…They keep saying that they don't hire students, especially one from Shirokin."

"Just keep at it. I'm sure someone will hire you," I said. "Hey listen, I have to go now. Class is starting, so yeah. Talk to you later?"

He mumbled a response and we hung up.

"Uchi…is he okay?" Sawada asked, suddenly appearing beside me.

I shrugged. It wasn't my place to tell.

* * *

"So Yankumi, what are you going to give us as a reward, huh?" Noda asked.

"I'm going to treat you to lunch today!" she beamed.

"Really? Yatta*!" Noda, Minami, and Kuma exclaimed.

By lunch, she meant the school cafeteria lunch. I picked at it, not hungry anymore.

"You really expect us to leave it at that?" Noda demanded. "This is the school lunch!"

"When someone treats you, you don't complain," Yankumi said simply. "Let's eat!"

As they began to eat, Yankumi suddenly said, "It's a good thing we cleared Uchi's name, right?"

I hated to tell her, but Uchi's problems were far from over.

"Will you stop looking so expressionless?" Yankumi said to Sawada. "I can never tell what you're thinking." He ignored her, slurping his spaghetti.

Kawashima Sensei, the school nurse, suddenly burst into the cafeteria. "Uchiyama's in the teacher's lounge. He's in trouble!"

We all stood up and raced to the teacher's lounge.

"Uchi…" I said and he looked up from where he sat next to who I assumed was his mother in front of Sawatari Kyoutou.

"What happened?" Yankumi asked.

"Uchiyama beat up Teradomari from Class 3-A and caused him some injuries," Sawatari said. "It's a week's worth of bed-ridden injuries."

Knowing that Teradomari kid, he probably deserved it. He was just another arrogant smartass.

"Uchiyama, why did you fight him?" Yankumi asked. Uchi remained silent.

"See, it's such a waste if some students do good things, and others cause problems like this. It all adds up to nothing!" Sawatari said. "I hope you're ready for consequences."

"I'm going to quit school," Uchi said suddenly.

His mom gasped. "Haruhiko, what are you saying?"

"It's a decision I made a while back. Thank you for everything until now," Uchi said, standing and bowing before leaving the lounge.

Yankumi and the others chased after him, but he ran out quickly. Sawada grabbed my arm.

"Kana, come with me," he said.

I followed him to a small restaurant.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

Suddenly, Uchi emerged from within the restaurant.

"Shin…Kana…" he said.

We all walked to a small park nearby.

"Did you find a job yet?" I asked softly. Uchi shook his head and sighed.

"It's harder than I thought."

"Are you really going to quit school?" Sawada asked.

"Yeah," Uchi said, sticking his hands in his pocket.

"I thought that I could quit school anytime too, you know," Sawada began. "But lately…I don't know why, but school's been fun. Maybe it's because of that crazy teacher."

"Yankumi?" Uchi said, and Sawada nodded.

"Uchiyama!" Yankumi shouted, running up to us. Speaking of the devil…

"I heard why you attacked that student," she said as she caught her breath. "He was hurting the stray puppy you found and were caring for, right?"

"The puppy…" I gasped. Uchi hung his head, then turned and began to walk away.

"That's no reason to quit school, though," Yankumi continued, walking after him.

"It doesn't matter," Uchi said.

"Your mom…she's going to go apologize to Teradomari," Yankumi said.

"So?"

"Can't you consider your mom's feelings for once?!" Yankumi demanded.

"Shut up!" Uchi unleashed his frustration at her. "My mom would be better off without me! She's always had to deal with my problems, bowing her head and whatnot! I'm going to make my own money now. I can live without my parents."

"Stop acting so high and might!" Yankumi shouted at him. I cringed. What the heck? "No one can do anything alone! Can't you see that? Where do you think you got everything you have? It's all from your mom who worked hard for you! Your mom is worried about you! She does all of this for you!"

I bit my lip, trying to keep my temper. I wanted to defend Uchi, but Sawada beat me to it.

"He knows that. He's doing all this for his mom. She hurt her back last month, so he wants to work in her place and make it easier for her. Right, Uchi?" he said.

"You didn't have to tell her," he muttered.

"Sorry…" Yankumi said apologetically. "I said too much."

"Let's go," Sawada said, clapping Uchi on the back.

"Where?" Uchi asked.

"You aren't going to make your mom apologize all by herself are you?"

* * *

When we reached the kid's house, Uchi's mom was already there, apologizing. The kid was bandaged up everywhere and had his arm in a sling. Teradomari's mom was going on and on about how brilliant her child is and how Uchi was such the opposite. I gripped Uchi's hand, trying to encourage him.

"You know, your mom said that you're her life," Yankumi said softly. "No matter how much trouble you cause, she'll do anything for you."

"I'm really sorry," Uchi's mother was saying, bowing humbly.

"Where is your son?" the kid's mother demanded. "Isn't he here to apologize? You must keep a better eye on him! He's so reckless that he's even been mistaken as a criminal!"

"My son may be violent and may not be very smart, but he won't attack anyone without a good reason to," Uchi's mom suddenly defended. Admiration flared up in my heart for her, and I could see it in Uchi's eyes as well.

"I thought you came here to apologize, not accuse!" the woman said shrilly.

At this point, Uchi let go of my hand and went to stand beside his mother. He bowed humbly.

"I'm really sorry for what I've done. There's no way to make up for it," he said. His mom stared at him for a moment before bowing again alongside him.

I watched this scene and couldn't help but feel a bitter emotion well up inside me.

* * *

Later on, Uchi talked to his mom.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"What are you saying, silly boy," she said, blinking back tears and patting him on the back.

"Good for you, Uchi," Yankumi said to him.

Uchi's mom turned to me. "So you're Kana. Uchi talks about you a lot."

"Mom," he groaned.

"Why don't you come over for dinner?" she invited.

I stiffened. Dinner meant talking about my past, my current situation.

"I'm sorry but I have to decline. Thank you though," I said with a bow.

"Come on, Kana," Uchi said. "My mom's cooking is better than the takoyaki we shared yesterday."

Sawada raised an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him.

"I'm busy," I lied quickly. Uchi's mom smiled understandingly.

"Then you'll have to come another time."

She took Uchi's arm and they began to walk away together. I stared after them.

Yankumi began to wipe away dramatic tears.

"Parents and children are meant to be like this," she mused. Oh really?

"You're not so bad," Sawada said suddenly. Yankumi stared at him.

"Aw. Your expression is so hard to read! But you're not a bad person either. You're a really good person!" she said, ruffling his hair. He pulled away irritably.

"I don't need to hear it from you," he said, and we began to walk away.

Yankumi really was an interesting teacher. But why was she like this? As far as I could tell, doing so much for us would give her no real reward. She was just weird.

"You lied about being busy," Sawada said without looking at me.

"So?"

"You know, you can't always hide things," he said. I stopped and stared at him as he walked on ahead of me. I knew I had to be careful around him from now on.

* * *

The next day, we found out that Teradomari had to pay a fine for animal abuse. His mother, in order to avoid having charges pressed against him, asked the school to act as if nothing happened, which meant Uchi would not get expelled.

The class began to whoop and clap Uchi on the back. I sighed in relief. Now everything was over.

At lunch, Uchi took out his lunchbox and we all stared at it hungrily.

"Aww~ is it Mommy's love-filled lunch?" Noda teased.

"NO," Uchi said. "Leave me alone."

Kuma reached over. "Let me have some!"

"Mine," Uchi said. "Don't touch! Ah, but Kana can have some," he added.

"It's so good!" I said, chewing on some fried shrimp.

"See what you missed last night? You should have come over," Uchi said triumphantly. I laughed it off.

"You guys make such a great couple," Minami said teasingly. Uchi and I stared at him, then at each other.

"EWWW~! No way!" we both shouted and moved to opposite sides of the table. Minami stared at us with wide eyes as Noda and Kuma cracked up. Uchi smiled shyly at me.

"Oi, Yankumi. We thought of what we want you to treat us to for catching the burgaler," Noda said when she approached.

"I want grilled squid," Kuma said.

"Shabu-shabu* for me!" Noda said grandly, waving his arm.

"I want sushi!" Minami said, pumping his fists.

"I treated you already," Yankumi protested.

"That was cafeteria food!" they shouted back at her in unison.

"The rest of this discussion…will be prolonged until later," she said, running away quickly.

"HEY!" Noda shouted after her. "That's CHEAP!"

Uchi stared at them in bewilderment as I watched them in amusement.

"You didn't miss anything," I said to him as the other guys grumbled loudly.

"You just called me Yankumi for the first time!" we heard Yankumi yell at Sawada by the entrance of the cafeteria. "Aww~ you don't have to be so embarrassed!"

Sawada muttered something and walked towards us, rolling his eyes.

As I stared at Uchi and how his friends started laughing and joking with him once more, I felt a tightness in my chest. Never had I seen a parent and child care so much for each other's well being. I turned away, knowing that I would never understand that feeling. Also, these guys deserved so much better than I was giving them. But I knew I should never get too attached to them either.

* * *

I walked partway home with Uchi. We stopped at the park to feed the puppy.

"The two girls that came to see the puppy the other day want to keep him," he said.

"That's good, little guy. Now you'll have a home," I murmured to the puppy as it jumped around in my lap.

"Thanks Kana...for being there," Uchi said suddenly. I looked at him and he looked away embarrassedly.

"Look...it's what friends do," I said. "...You don't mind being just friends, do you?"

He looked at me surprised, then blushed when he realized what I meant. He socked my arm lightly. "Of course I don't mind. What else would we be if not friends, huh?"

"Well..." I said grinning and left it at that.

We stared up at the sky and quietly celebrated our friendship.

* * *

"How was school?" Shun asked me when I came home.

"Okay," I responded. I paused as I put down my bag. "Shun…why did my parents die?"

He looked up, startled. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, walking away from him. "I'm going to go work out."

I walked to the storeroom, where we kept some work out equipment. As I pulled on my gloves and began to hit the punching bag as hard as I could, I couldn't suppress the tears. It wasn't fair. I bit my lip and continued to hit and kick at the sand bag, but I couldn't get the feeling to go away. Every punch was an empty thud in my ear, reminding me of how worthless I was.

I knew Shun was watching me from the doorway. I paused when I heard him approach me, my shoulders tense. He grabbed me by the scruff of my collar and threw me to the ground. The pain of sliding against the concrete floor shot through me.

"This is the path you chose," he said hoarsely. I could hear the pain suppressed by the gruffness of his voice.

Loud laughter suddenly came from the entrance of the house and I knew that the others were back.

"Get up," Shun said before turning and leaving the room.

I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, muffling my sobs. It was true...but it just wasn't fair.

* * *

_*Yatta: Yay!_  
_*Shabu-shabu: a sort of Japanese-style hot pot_


	7. Chapter 7: Risks

**Risks**

I hadn't talked to Shun since that day, and it was now a week later. The guys at school seemed to accept my brooding as a "girl thing" and I was in no mood to tell them off.

I was pulling on my shoes one morning when Chiba came by the entrance and leaned against the doorway, watching me.

"You and Shun had a fight, didn't you?" he asked.

"None of your business," I said, picking up my school bag.

He laughed. "It's so easy to tell when you guys have fought. You guys are so close and so alike, after all."

"Can you please move?" I asked, ignoring him. I didn't want to hear about Shun right now.

"What, going to school?" he sneered.

Chiba was an okay guy, but we did disagree about things, one of them being my attending school. He thought it was a waste of time for me to even try to graduate, even though there was only two and a half months left.

"I'm going to be late," I said, walking past him.

"The other guys in your class don't know about you and us, do they?"

I stopped at his words.

"Of course not," I answered briskly.

"I wonder what they would do if they knew."

I turned to glare at him, but before I could voice any thoughts, a voice spoke from behind me.

"Chiba, stop harassing Kana and let her go to school."

I turned around again and saw Shun eyeing Chiba sternly.

"I'm going now," I mumbled, but Shun's arm shot out as I walked past him.

"I need to talk to you when you come home," he said. I nodded without looking at him.

* * *

As I neared school, wondering what Shun wanted to talk to me about, someone hopped up next to me.

"Ohayo~!!!" Noda greeted me with a huge grin.

"You sure are cheerful today," I said. "Win the lottery or something?"

"Even better," he grinned. "First period is ENGLISH TODAY!"

I groaned. Besides his love of photography and his PC, one of the first things I noticed about Noda was his huge crush on Fujiyama Sensei, the English teacher. In fact, she was the subject of many of his photos, paparazzi style.

"See you in class!" he said with a wave, running towards our classroom so that he could get the "best seat".

Sure enough, when I finally trudged to class, Noda was sitting front and center, face full of anticipation. The rest of the guys were reading their English text books, reviewing so that if Fujiyama Sensei called on them, they would be ready to impress her.

I walked to my seat in the back and sat down, watching all of the guys crowd their desks to the front. There was a great space between my desk and theirs.

The only person sitting near me was Sawada.

"Jealous?" he asked with a straight face.

"As if," I responded, resting my head against my arms on the desk. I couldn't be bothered with such things. Besides, Fujiyama Sensei wasn't particularly gorgeous. Honestly, I thought Yankumi had the potential to be prettier if she didn't wear those nerdy glasses all the time.

The door opened and Noda's face fell when Yankumi walked in.

"What are you doing here?!" he demanded amidst the other guys' groans.

"Fujiyama Sensei doesn't feel well," she answered, surprised by his outburst.

"Is…is she alright?" he asked.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm temporarily taking over for her," Yankumi explained.

"Boring~! Alright guys. Scoot back," Minami said, and everyone moved their desks away from Yankumi.

"Hey!" she protested, getting frustrated.

I smiled. I'd rather have Yankumi teach anyways. Glancing over, I saw that Sawada thought so too.

* * *

"I'm going to go see Fujiyama Sensei," Noda said at lunch. Minami and Uchi also jumped up. "No! You guys can't come! I'm going to ask her questions about English," he said firmly before walking towards the teacher's lounge.

"That's not fair!" Minami shouted after him, knowing very well that Noda wouldn't be concentrating on English while he was there, but they stayed put anyways.

I wasn't really paying attention until Uchi sat back down next to me and waved a hand in my face.

"Are you okay?"

I blinked at him, until his question finally registered in my head.

"Tired," I said, brushing off his question.

"Not getting enough sleep?" he asked, patting my head.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, wishing that everything really was. I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen after school.

"Stupid Sawatari," Minami grumbled off to the side. "Bothering us about crap like mid-semester finals all the time."

I sighed. Another thing to worry about…

* * *

After school, the six of us walked through the park on the way home. Noda's attention was captivated by his textbook.

"So what, are you going to ace the test and capture Shizuka-chan's heart?" Uchi teased him.

I snorted. Since when did they call teacher's by their first name? It'd be like calling Yankumi…Kumiko. I began to laugh at the thought.

"Haha! Kana's laughing because you have no chance!" Minami taunted Noda.

"It's true. It's not like I don't have a chance anyways," Noda said pleasantly.

"You should give her a present! Women love presents!" Uchi said.

"Leave me alone, guys!" Noda protested, laughing it off.

However, when Minami, Kuma, and Uchi ran forward to talk to some girls from a nearby school, Noda lingered behind with a secret smile on his face. He stopped when he saw a girl by the walkway selling jewelry. He picked up a necklace with a pink charm at the end.

"How much is this?" he asked the girl, who smiled.

"It's 1500 yen, but I'll sell it to you for 1000 yen," she said.

"Thanks!" he said with a grin as she wrapped it.

"Is it for your girlfriend?" she asked as she handed the package to him.

"Well…she's not my girlfriend," Noda answered, blushing.

I saw Sawada watch this exchange with a smile. I nudged him.

"Is it okay to have him acting like this?" I asked. After all, what could come out of having a crush on a teacher?

"Leave him alone. He'll get over it," Sawada replied. I nodded, trusting his judgement.

"Hey, I'm going to go now," I said. I began to walk away when Sawada suddenly called my name.

"…You don't look too good," he said. "Is everything okay?"

"I'll let you know," I said after a pause. I didn't even know if I would be okay. What else could I say?

* * *

"I'm home," I said, walking into the bleak garage-like place I called home.

"Kana," Shun said, standing from where he stood on the couch.

I stood my ground. If he was going to strike me, he better have good reason to.

"I'm not going to hit you," he said, reading my mind. "It's about the café."

"Oh." I knew what this was about. I had nothing to fear. "I can start working again."

"I appreciate it, but you know the risk, Kana."

"Of course, but I promised you that once I got settled at my new school, I'd work again." If the school caught me, I could get expelled, suspended at least. Students weren't supposed to have jobs.

"Okay then. Thanks Kana."

I was surprised. "Is that it?"

"Yes…are we cool?"

"…yeah, we're cool," I answered.

This was the way he ended all arguments, because he knew no other way. All I could do was try to understand him. We were all on the same boat anyways, Shun, Chiba, the other guys and I. It made sense that we'd stick together, as no one else would accept us.

Shun was the eldest, at twenty five years old. Most of the other guys were scattered in the age range between my age and Shun's. There were about twenty of us, banded together for the sake of wanting to belong somewhere. To us, we were a justified group of similar outcasts in society. The general public, however, labeled us a gang.

In short, whoever looked at me would see a gang member. And that was what I couldn't tell my new classmates, no matter how close we became. No matter how much I wanted to belong, I didn't and wouldn't. No one would understand, and I knew that.

* * *

The next morning, Noda seemed particularly cheerful. I figured he had delivered his present to Fujiyama Sensei. During break, he began to upload his most recent paparazzi style pictures he had captured of Fujiyama Sensei, and the other began to crowd around his PC, nodding in approval.

"There's something alluring about older women," Uchi sighed.

Kuma looked up, puzzled. "Does that include Yankumi?"

Sawada smirked. "She's definitely excluded."

I saw Yankumi sneak behind Sawada, oblivious to the conversation. She tapped Sawada's shoulder, then stuck her finger out when he turned, poking his cheek.

"Baka," she laughed. "You fell for it!"

Sawada glared at her before looking away.

"Oh, what's that?!" she said, hopping over to see Noda's pictures. "Wow, they're so well taken!"

"Don't look!" Noda insisted, but she held his arms back.

"What's there to hide?" she kept saying, as Noda tried to fend her off.

I rolled my eyes and stretched, hoping that the day would be over soon.

"Feeling better?" Uchi asked me, and I nodded. Fighting and being nervous around Shun had left me exhausted.

But now that I would start working again, I wondered about how much time I would get to spend with these guys outside of school. It would probably become very limited. For some reason, that thought made me really sad.

* * *

"Hey, it seems that Fujiyama was working as a hostess in a Ginza club," a classmate announced to the class, "And someone ratted her out and now Sawatari's pissed off."

The class began to talk loudly in surprise. I sat up. It seems like I wasn't the only one working a job without permission. Teachers weren't allowed to hold second jobs, and something especially questionable like a hostess could get them in serious trouble.

It honestly didn't surprise me about Fujiyama Sensei working as a hostess, but what surprised me was Noda's reaction.

He was sitting there with a blank look on his face, for once without his computer, but I could see the guilt in his eyes.

The class hushed when Yankumi walked into the room, and she headed straight for Noda.

"You did it, didn't you? You sent those pictures to Sawatari Kyoutou," she said sternly.

"And if I did, so what?" he responded nonchalantly.

"Why?" she shot back immediately.

"It's the truth, isn't it? She's working as a hostess!" Noda exclaimed.

"And so you can do whatever you want?"

"And teachers can do whatever they want?!" he demanded angrily, standing up. "She took my present and threw it in the trash!"

I stared at him, realizing why he had done this. How much it must have hurt him to see her throw away what represented his feelings for her.

Yankumi suddenly punched him, and he fell to the ground, blood appearing on the corner of his lip. She stood over him, grabbing him by the collar.

"You like Fujiyama Sensei, don't you?!" she shouted at him, before Sawada grabbed her swinging arms to hold her back. The rest of the class stood up in shock.

"When she trashed your present, it hurt you inside, didn't it? I bet it did! And to spite her, you rat her out! Did that ease your pain? Did the hurting stop? Because if it did, you have no right to fall in love!" she yelled at him before wrenching her arms from Sawada's grip.

I could see tears appearing in his eyes, and I reached over to help him up, but he pushed my hands away.

"Shut up!" he said and pushed his way out of the classroom. An awkward silence fell upon the class.

"It's true that what he did was wrong, but I can understand how he feels," Sawada said to Yankumi, who just stood there.

Without a second thought, I ran after Noda. He ran fast, but I caught up to him when he stopped at the park, breathing heavily.

"Noda," I said, trying to catch my breath at the same time.

He glared at me. "What?"

I could see the pain in his expression, the pain of rejection that I knew all too well.

"…Come with me," I said. He stared at me confusedly. "Just do it," I said, tugging on his arm.

What I was about to do ran a big risk, but I knew Noda needed it. And maybe I did too.


	8. Chapter 8: Trying the Impossible

**Trying the Impossible**

Noda followed me silently until we got to the edge of town.

"What are we doing here?" he asked grumpily.

"Here," I said, pulling him inside the small café.

Shun looked up from the cash register and raised his eyebrow when he saw me. His expression changed to one of suspicion and apprehension when he saw Noda trailing in behind me. I shot Shun a pleading look and he gave me a short nod, though he looked displeased.

"Sit here," I said, motioning to an empty seat near the back of the café. Noda sat, looking around. The small café was mostly empty, except for the occasional couple or an elderly person stopping by for some coffee. I grabbed a first aid kit and dropped it off on the table.

"You can do it yourself, right?" I asked, and Noda nodded before taking a gauze and wiping the blood off his lip.

I ran quickly to the back and changed into my uniform, which consisted of a white collared shirt, a black vest, and a black skirt. I rolled up my sleeves and fixed my collar before stepping back out into the café.

"So what do you want to drink?" I asked, holding out a menu. Noda looked up at me and stared, taking in my uniform.

"Don't you dare laugh," I growled, but he couldn't hold in his laughter. It was nice to see him smiling again.

"You look great," he told me, before accepting the menu.

"What's good here?" he asked me after scanning over the menu for a minute or two.

"I'd recommend a latte, or maybe a fruit smoothie if you don't drink coffee," I said.

"A latte it is, then," he said with a smile and handed back the menu.

I picked up the first aid kit and put it back before walking behind the counter to begin assembling the ingredients. Shun leaned against the counter, eyeing me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked calmly.

"My classmate…he needed to get out for a moment," I said, pulling milk from the mini fridge.

He sighed. "Ditching isn't going to help you graduate."

I stopped what I was doing to look at him. "I know…but there are some things that need to be done. I couldn't just leave him like that."

Shun smiled slightly. "You have a big heart, Kana." He turned to go back to the cash register. "Just don't let it misguide you."

I sat in the seat across from Noda when Shun told me that he could handle the customers himself.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

Noda was staring out the window, resting his chin on his hand, arm propped up on the table. He glanced over at me, his expression clearly annoyed.

"I wish that stupid teacher would leave me alone," he muttered. By stupid teacher, I knew he meant Yankumi. "I hate her pretty words. They don't mean crap to me."

"…You really did like Fujiyama Sensei, right?" I asked softly. He looked away again, his fists clenched but his eyes mournful.

"I know what I did was low. No one has to tell me that. But when she…when she threw away the necklace…"

He couldn't finish the sentence, so I let the silence sink in.

"Hey, don't tell the others about this place, okay?" I said after a pause.

Noda looked at me, surprised. "Why not?"

"Well…people aren't supposed to know about me working here."

"Then why did you…" he began, but then he stopped. "…aren't you afraid I'll rat you out?"

I stood up. "Guess I'll have to trust you on that one," I said before walking away.

* * *

Noda didn't show up to school the next day. The others didn't question me about whether I had talked to him when we had left class the day before, but I knew that they were itching to.

Yankumi came into the room. "Fujiyama Sensei will not get fired on one condition."

"What's that?" Minami asked.

Yankumi smiled. "All of you will have to pass the mid-semester English final with 30% or higher."

The class immediately erupted into groans of "impossible!" and "what?!"

Yankumi's smile faltered. "What? It's just 30%!"

"Yankumi, have you even seen our grades?"

"I only get single digit percentages in all my classes!"

"My highest grade ever is 18%!"

"You guys are really that stupid?" Yankumi asked, mostly to herself.

"You just noticed?" someone cut in, and she sighed.

"Okay, fine. From today to the day of the test, I'll hold a special English class after school."

"After school? No way!" was the class's response.

"Don't you want to do your best and help Fujiyama Sensei not get fired? Then Noda won't feel guilty and quit school or something."

But no one was really listening anymore.

* * *

By the time Yankumi's English session was about to start, everyone had left class. While the five of us were walking out to the gate, Kuma suddenly stopped.

"I'm going to attend Yankumi's English thing," he said. "She's helped me out before, so yeah." With that, he turned and began to walk back.

"I guess I'll go too, since we're always causing her trouble and stuff," Minami said, walking after Kuma.

"Oh, please. I guess there's no choice! I owe her one anyways," Uchi said brightly, leaving me and Sawada behind.

I hesitated. Shun would give me a little bit of leeway today, since I came to work early yesterday.

"Might as well," I sighed, and walked after Uchi. Sawada followed behind me without a word.

When we got to the class, we saw Yankumi slouched over a huge stack of books. Sawada tapped her shoulder and stuck his finger out, poking her cheek when she turned.

"Ba-ka-*," he said with no expression whatsoever, while the other guys snickered.

"You guys…you came!" she said happily. Sawada picked up one of her flyers.

"Class 3-D aim to get 30% or higher on the English final. Day 1," I read, peering over his shoulder. "Let's Bigin…?"

"Misspell," Sawada said, pointing at "bigin".

"Really?" Yankumi asked.

"B-E-G-I-N, not begin," he explained.

"Wow Sawada! You're a genius!" she exclaimed.

"I learned that in middle school," he muttered.

"Oi Yankumi, are you okay?" Minami asked.

"Are you sure you can teach us English like this?" Uchi added. Yankumi shrugged.

"Come on, let's start!" Kuma said impatiently.

"Oh yeah. Yamaguchi Kumiko Sensei," Uchi started, putting an arm around Minami and Kuma, "We three don't know our alphabet, so…"

"Good luck," they said in unison.

Yankumi sighed while I looked on in amusement.

* * *

"ABCDEFG!" Minami, Uchi, and Kuma sang loudly as we headed home. They added the occasional "hey hey hey" for effect. I laughed when they stumbled over "LMNOP".

Sawada suddenly stopped and pointed to the riverbank. A familiar figure lay on the grass.

"Noda!" the guys shouted and ran over to him. "Hey, come back to school. Yankumi's started an English class, and you won't even believe all the stuff she's trying to make us learn!"

Noda showed disinterest until Sawada said, "Fujiyama's getting fired." It was then that Noda sat up in shock.

"But she won't if the entire class gets a 30% or higher on the English final," I said. Sawada handed him on of Yankumi's flyers.

After glancing at it, Noda pushed it away and got up.

"Leave me alone," was all he said before walking away.

When I parted ways with the guys and walked into the café, I wasn't surprised to see Noda there, a brooding look on his face.

"Another latte?" I asked him after I changed. He nodded.

I saw Shun give me a warning look, but I ignored him. Noda wasn't a threat as far as I was concerned.

"Look, you need to snap out of it," I said after handing him his latte. Noda looked up at me and frowned.

"But…"

"It's not enough to sit there and feel bad. If you really like Fujiyama Sensei, you would at least try to make things right. And the only way to do that is this," I said, placing a flyer on the table. "That's all I have to say."

"Wait," he said as I began to walk away. "…You don't think it's too late?"

"You never know," I replied with a shrug. Honestly, our whole class passing with a 30% would be quite a feat, but who knew? Maybe we'd be able to pull it off with some miracle.

I only wished even a glimpse of a miracle would appear for me.

* * *

_*baka: idiot, stupid_

**Author's note: My first review! Yay!! Thank you very much, bethspore4!!! I hope a lot of you are enjoying my story. **


	9. Chapter 9: Miracle

**Miracle**

When Noda didn't show up to school the next day, I was a bit disappointed. I thought for sure that he had considered trying to change things.

"Hey guys," Sawada said suddenly at the end of our last period, and the class fell silent. "I know that it might not seem possible for us to achieve 30% on our English final, but think about Noda. He is our friend, and we should make sure that he doesn't quit school. Yankumi's doing her best already, so all we need is for you guys all to participate in her after school English sessions until the test. That's all we ask." He stood and bowed his head. I stared at him.

"Onegai*!" Minami, Kuma, and Uchi said, also standing and bowing to their classmates.

The other guys began to murmer among themselves, until finally, one of them spoke up.

"We'll do it then. Noda is our friend, after all."

"Arigatou*!" Minami shouted. "You guys are the best!"

When Yankumi walked in, she looked amazed.

"You're late! Let's hurry up and get started, Yankumi!" Uchi called out.

"You guys…" she exclaimed. "All of you are here?"

"We'll do what we need to if it's for a friend."

"It's not bad to study once in a while."

"Besides, how could we say no to bowed heads?"

Yankumi stared at them in surprise. "Who bowed their heads to you?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sawada said and the rest smiled.

Suddenly, Yankumi's attention was drawn to the door. "Noda…"

I sat up. He came after all.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he walked up to Yankumi. She beamed and began to ruffle his hair.

"Yoshi! For Fujiyama Sensei, OH!" she shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

"Oh…?" the class mumbled.

"That's weak! Again, OH!" she repeated with enthusiasm.

"OH!!!" the guys roared.

With the class pumped up, Yankumi began a crash course in High School English.

"A," she said, pointing.

"A," the class repeated, tracing letters in the air.

"B," she continued.

"B!"

Minami and Uchi kept drawing exaggeratedly humongous letters in the air, and it was more fun to watch them then listen to Yankumi, but I willed myself to stay awake.

"Hey, what about your job?" Noda asked me discreetly when the other guys weren't paying attention.

"I explained about the class to my boss, and he's letting me come in later," I said.

Noda nodded. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"I'm glad you came."

For the next week, all of 3-D studied hard. Everywhere we went, we had an English book, shocking the other classes. The class even got into arguments over English. Sawada had a knack for English, so he helped everyone out, including Yankumi, who didn't quite know everything about the language. But who could blame her? She was a math teacher.

Everyone congratulated each other when they got the answer right.

"What's the answer, Noda?" Yankumi asked.

"FOR!" he shouted, and got it right. The class cheered.

Kawashima Sensei, the school nurse, even made us huge rice balls for a snack.

"For Shizuka, let's do this!" Noda shouted, holding up his pencil and rice ball.

"OH!" the class shouted in response.

I glanced up and saw that Fujiyama Sensei watching our class from the window, an unreadable expression on her face. Her job relied on us now, and all she could do was trust us.

* * *

The day of the test came almost too quickly.

"Alright, put away your books! Pass the test face down," Sawatari Kyoutou demanded as he walked into the room.

"Everyone calm down," Yankumi said. "Read the questions carefully and it'll make a difference."

"You have one hour," Sawatari said. "Begin."

I stared at the test. It wasn't too difficult, since Sawatari wrote the test, but tests are tests, and I tended to get nervous about how I would do. I sighed and picked up my pencil.

Surprisingly, I finished the test in a little over half an hour. The reset of the class kept writing, but I saw Sawada look up, indicating that he was done. Our eyes met. Suddenly, 30% seemed impossible.

"Time!" Sawatari shouted at the end of the hour. "Put down your pencils."

The class passed up the tests and began to murmur loudly amongst themselves.

We waited in nervous silence as he walked out with our tests. Once Fujiyama Sensei graded our tests, we would know our results.

As a class, we had decided to write encouraging messages to her on our tests, such as "Don't give up on us! Don't leave!", "I worked really hard for you, so stay!", and "This test grade is for you!"

When Fujiyama Sensei came back, I could see the traces of tears on her face. So our messages had been read…now it was up to our grades.

"When I call your name, please get you test," she said.

The first guy walked up and received his test. He glanced at it and then whooped.

"It's a 37%!"

The next also got a 37. Slowly, as each student went up and got something higher than 30%, the class loosened up. One guy began to dance as the class cheered.

"Isn't this awesome? Isn't it?" Uchi said, holding his test high above his head.

"Yay!" Minami said, putting an arm around a bewildered and slightly disappointed Sawatari.

"I got a 60%!" Noda shouted happily. Everyone clapped and cheered.

"Wow! Sawada got a hundred!" Minami shouted and the class oohed. Sawada looked like he had expected no less.

"Nakajima Kana."

I walked up and received my test. 80%.

"That's awesome Kana!" Uchi said to me, but his smile faltered when I only nodded. I was exhausted, both from working late shifts and from taking the test.

"Kumai-kun," Fujiyama Sensei said.

We all waited in silence for him to show us. Sawatari Kyoutou walked over, and a grin spread across his face.

"29%!" he announced.

"I'm sorry," Kuma said, devastated. The class could only sit in silence.

"Promises are promises. Fujiyama Sensei will have to quit," Sawatari said.

"I did it!" Noda shouted, nearly in tears. "I sent you the picture! Please don't fire her. If Fujiyama Sensei quits, how can I take responsibility?"

"You did it?" Sawatari asked with a grin.

Waseda, the head teacher, said, "We need to punish Noda too, don't we?"

"I can't accept this!" Uchi shouted angrily, knocking over a desk.

"I can't accept it either!" Kawashima Sensei vouched for us.

"We don't need teachers or students who cause problems!" Sawatari shouted as the class rose up in protest.

"I'm sorry!" Noda said to Fujiyama Sensei, bowing, but she shook her head, understanding why he had done it.

"Everyone makes mistakes!" Yankumi suddenly shouted. "But Noda recognized his mistake and is now trying to change things! Fujiyama Sensei also knows that what she did was wrong. Are you trying to prevent people from bettering themselves? Fujiyama Sensei, what do you think?"

She stared, and then began to speak slowly. "I didn't even dream about becoming a teacher. But now, I realize that I want to continue being one."

"Either way, a promise is a promise!" Sawatari said stubbornly.

"I think this answer can be A or E," a voice said. We all turned to see the Principal looking over Kuma's test. Fujiyama Sensei went over to check it.

"Yes, it could be A or E," she confirmed.

"Which means Kyoutou made a mistake when making the test!" Kawashima Sensei said.

"Which means I have a 31%!!!" Kuma shouted, and the class erupted in shouts of approval.

"A promise is a promise, right?" Yankumi said, nudging Sawatari, who ran out of the classroom, defeated.

"Fujiyama Sensei can STAY!" Noda shouted, throwing his test in the air. The others followed suit. I was surprised when I looked over and saw Sawada smile genuinely for the first time. It was a nice smile, not the arrogant smirk he usually wore.

But I was even more amazed with the class. They had perservered so much, and now they got what they wanted. For most of the class, it was the highest grade they had ever received.

If they could try really hard and achieve things, could I do it to?

But there was a difference. Working hard to make Fujiyama Sensei stay was a combined class effort. What I had to do, I had to do myself.

"Kana, are you okay?" Uchi asked me as I was lost in my thoughts.

"Yeah…I'm just…worn out, I guess," I said. "From studying too much," I added when he looked at me worriedly. I couldn't tell him about my job.

"It's okay," he said. "Do you want to hang out after school?"

"OOOHHH!" Minami said, popping out of nowhere. "Uchi asked Kana out!"

"Shut up! It's not like that," Uchi growled.

I shook my head. "Not today," I said.

"But you never go out with us anymore," Uchi mentioned. I looked away. I probably wouldn't be able to, from now on.

"Maybe…in a while…" I said. Luckily, Noda spoke up, capturing the guys' attentions.

"I'm going to ask Fujiyama Sensei out on a date if I get 80% on higher on the semester final!" Noda announced, and Uchi, Kuma, and Minami went with him to see if Fujiyama Sensei would agree.

I slowly packed up my stuff and stood up to leave. Sawada was standing by the door, as if waiting for me. We walked out in silence.

"You know, Uchi's worried about you," Sawada said once we got outside.

""Don't you start," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"What's up?" he asked me. "Parental problems?"

I shook my head slowly. "I don't have any parents," I said softly. Sawada stared at me.

We suddenly heard a loud ringtone nearby, interrupting the conversation. Sawada picked up a cell phone from the ground.

"Who's is this?" he muttered. I shrugged, not recognizing it. Sawada pushed the talk button.

"Ojou*? Ojou, it's Tetsu. Ojou?" we heard.

Sawada and I stared at each other. Ojou?

* * *

_*Onegai: Please_  
_*Arigatou: Thank you_  
_*Ojou: literally means "queen" or "princess", but it can also be a title for a noblewoman in a high position_


	10. Chapter 10: Yankumi's Secret

**Yankumi's Secret**

"Why the heck are we delivering the phone?" Sawada muttered as we walked through the streets.

"You're the one agreed," I pointed out. He rolled his eyes at me.

"Why did you come anyways?" he asked me.

"I don't know."

The real reason was that I didn't want to go right away to the café. Shun was in a bad mood for some reason, and though I would pay for it later, I didn't want to be around when he was bound to lose his temper anyways. Besides, I was curious to see who this "Ojou" was. I mean, who went around being called "Ojou" in our time? I figured it was a nickname for a Ginza hostess or something.

Sawada and I came to stand at the gates of a large traditional-style house. I stared up at the grand architecture and shuddered.

The phone rang once more and Sawada picked up.

"Hello? I'm sorry for the inconvenience," the person called Tetsu said.

"We're in front of your house now," Sawada answered and hung up. "Well…here we go," he said and began to walk through the gates.

He suddenly came to a stop and I almost crashed into him.

"Watch where you're…" I trailed off when I saw what had made him stop. The nameplate by the door read Oeda Household.

"Oeda…"

The Oeda Household was a long lasting clan, a more traditional portion of the Yakuza otherwise known as the Japanese Mafia. I knew that they existed, but I had never come in contact with anyone that was part of the Yakuza in my life.

Sawada looked down at the cell phone and examined it. When he turned it over, a small purikura* sticker of an all too familiar face smiled up at us. I gripped my school bag tighter in shock.

"Yankumi..." he muttered.

Two men stumbled out of the doorway to greet us. We stared at them.

"Thank you so much," the skinny one said bowing, who I guessed was Tetsu.

"Ah, isn't they Ojou's students?" the other, a shorter bigger bald man, asked Tetsu, who slapped him on the head.

"Stupid!" Tetsu scolded. They looked over at us and stiffened when they saw our stares.

"Ojou?" Sawada asked. In his hand, Yankumi's picture smiled at us hauntingly.

The two led us inside, though I noticed Tetsu's reluctance. The interior of the roomy house was no less traditional than its exterior, and I would have marveled at its design were it not for our situation at hand. We were seated at a low table on a tatami floor and were told to wait there.

Sawada kept glancing at me, as if to make sure he wasn't dreaming. As for me, I was furious at myself for not seeing this coming. I'd rather face Shun's temper than be pinpointed by Yakuza bosses. But then again, what was with this whole deal with Yankumi?

The two came back, bringing two other older men with them. I learned that the skinny one was indeed Tetsu, the bald man Minoru.

"We really don't know how to repay you," the man that introduced himself as Wakamatsu Hiro said. The other, Makoto, sat beside him and nodded. Tetsu stood nervously behind them.

"No need," Sawada and I replied quickly.

"Here it is!" Minoru said, bringing a package. I recognized it as bottles of wine.

"Sorry it's not much, but this is our gratitude," Wakamatsu said, holding it out to us.

"No thank you," Sawada said. "We are, after all, minors."

They blinked at us, and then,

"Minoru!" Wakamatsu shouted. "How can we give this to them?!"

"Ah," Sawada spoke up quickly. "Who's the person on the cell phone purikura?"

"Oh, it's my relative," Tetsu responded after a pause. "Yeah, she put it on there herself. We rarely see her."

"But didn't you say earlier…something about Ojou's students?" I asked slowly. Seriously, this was so weird.

They gave us panicked looks until Tetsu, once again, spoke up and said, "You must have misheard us!"

"Let it go," we heard a voice say.

I turned toward the speaker and couldn't help staring. An elderly gentleman, wearing a traditional kimono, walked into the room. The other men bowed and made room for him to sit in front of us. This man, this was the leader of the Oeda Household.

"Let's not tell foolish lies. These students have already figured it out for themselves," he said, gesturing towards us. He sat in front of us and we straightened up, knowing that we were in front of an important and potentially dangerous man.

"I have a favor to ask of you. Kumiko is my granddaughter, which makes her the 3rd generation of this clan. Like her father, she has chosen to become a school teacher. I am not going to forbid you from telling of her background to anyone. However, if you see Kumiko as a worthy teacher, I ask you to keep this information within yourselves. I believe this information has the potential to get her fired," he explained to us. He bowed deeply, as the other men followed suit.

Sawada and I politely bowed back, speechless.

* * *

"Wow," was all I could say as we walked away from Yankumi's house.

"Yeah," Sawada said. There really wasn't any way to express what we had just learned.

"At least we know where she learned to fight," I remarked. I knew that no dorky teacher like her could ever have those skills unless she had trained somewhere, and this clarified everything.

"So now we know her secret," Sawada mused.

"It must be pretty awesome…" I murmured.

"What?"

"You know, being part of the Yakuza. I mean, they're cruel and brutal when they want to be, but isn't it reassuring to be part of something like that? I'm parentless and vulnerable, having to defend myself all the time, but if I knew that people like them would back me up, there's nothing to fear."

I instantly realized that I had said too much. Sawada was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"But don't tell the others, okay?" I said quickly. "They'll…it'll be hard for them. Especially Uchi. He worries too much already."

Sawada nodded slowly. "I won't tell," he said.

"Well, see you," I said, walking away from him. I wondered why I had told him those things. Maybe he seemed trustworthy? I didn't know. But regardless, I had to be more careful.

The moment I set foot in the house, Shun grabbed me and pinned me to a wall. My back hit the hard rough surface with an agonizing thud.

"Where were you?! Do you know what time it is?!" he shouted, hands fisting my collar.

I stared at him. He seemed…a different kind of angry.

"I…I was hanging out…with Sawada…I'm sorry, it got late…"

"Did anything happen? Are you alright?"

Was he worried? I didn't understand. Or did he already know about me visiting the Oeda Household?

"No, nothing happened," I said.

His grip loosened and he turned away from me.

"Why? What happened?" I demanded.

"Some stupid kids thought it'd be funny to go around with metal sticks and bang up random people with them," he explained gruffly without looking at me. "Thought you got caught up in their game or something. I'm having Chiba check it out, to see who they are and stuff."

I didn't know what to say. It wasn't the first time he had showed he cared, but I never knew what to do each time. Sure, we all cared about each other. But not getting a lot of affection growing up, each of us didn't know how to express it.

"I'll be careful," I finally promised.

He turned and I saw that his eyes had softened. He hit me gently on the head.

"Don't skip out on work," was all he said before he walked back into his room.

I sighed before I walked into my room and threw myself down onto the bed. It had been a long day.

* * *

The next morning, I met up with the guys in front of school. Sawada nodded at me, which was surprising because he usually didn't acknowledge me.

Minami had his arms wide open at a group of girls.

"What are you doing?" Uchi asked.

"Ah~ Momojou's girls are the best!" Minami said.

Suddenly, all the girls turned, stared at us, and then began to run.

"AH! They all saw our faces and are running away!!!" Noda said, panicking and discouraged.

"We don't need you!" Uchi shouted at the fleeing girls in a childlike voice. I began to laugh.

"But there was this one cute girl, right Shin?" Minami said, turning to Sawada.

"Not interested," Sawada said.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask…are you normal?" Minami said to him.

"Ohayo!" Yankumi hollered, jumping in front of us before Sawada could answer. "Isn't it a wonderful day?"

Sawada stared at her, as I did likewise. This was the 3rd generation of the Oeda leader?

"Huh? Why are you staring at me?" Yankumi asked him. "Oh, don't tell me you--"

"Don't even think about it," he cut in.

"Say, Yankumi, don't you have a teacher's meeting before school?" Minami asked.

"AHH! I forgot! Don't be late to class guys!" she shouted before taking off.

"Never changes, does she?" Noda remarked, laughing.

I just looked away. It was too hard to believe. Yankumi as the next Oeda leader? What a joke.

* * *

_*purikura: shortened version of "print club", which is just supposed to be a photo booth where you take pictures and you can draw on it and print it out_

**Author's Note: Yay! More reviews! Thank you very much. To answer one of the questions I got, this story is mostly about the friendship between Kana & the other characters. I'm not saying that there won't be romance...but it's not the main focus. I find that friendship is the driving force behind the Gokusen series and would like to stick to that as much as possible. **


	11. Chapter 11: Fights vs Violence

"You're always like this!"

"Leave me alone!"

I looked over and saw that the twins in our class were at it again. One punched the other, causing him to crash into some desks.

"Fight!!" Noda shouted excitedly, and the class became an uproar, as desks were cleared to create a makeshift arena.

I sat on top of one of the desks, eyeing this "boy" fight with annoyance. They didn't even know what a real fight was like. Then again, this was just harmless fun.

"Someone keep an eye out for teachers!" Uchi instructed. The guy next to him nudged him. "What? You have a problem?" Uchi snapped.

"No…it's just…she's already here," the guy said.

We all looked over and saw Yankumi kneeling by the fallen twin, egging him on to stand up and fight back. We all stared at her, the room becoming silent.

"What?" she asked, bewildered.

"And why aren't you stopping us?" Minami asked.

"It's just a contesting fight, right? It's not a duel," she said.

"What's that?" Kuma asked.

"You know, a fight to the death," Yankumi declared.

"Most people don't know that," Noda said.

As Yankumi looked stuck, Sawada muttered "baka" under his breath. Now that we knew about her background, we saw that she was failing miserably at hiding it.

"Hey! I've never seen such a disorganized classroom in my life!" Sawatari Kyoutou shouted, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Where's Yamaguchi Sensei?"

I turned and saw that Yankumi had hidden behind Kuma, who was the biggest guy in the class. She put a finger to her lips when she saw me looking, but I just rolled my eyes.

"Kumai…what are you hiding?" Sawatari asked, observing the strange way Kuma was standing.

"Nothing!" Kuma insisted, but Sawatari was smart.

"Yamaguchi Sensei!" he shouted, and she stepped out meekly. She looked around the class.

"Bad class! Get to work!" she said.

* * *

"Yankumi's so strange," Noda remarked as we walked home.

"I mean, seriously, you would think she'd at least stop a fight," Minami agreed.

"She probably watches gangster movies," Uchi said, and they began to laugh.

Suddenly, I looked up and saw Minoru and Tetsu walking towards us.

As we passed each other, Minoru and Kuma turned to stare at each other. I would have laughed at the likeness if I didn't know that Minoru and Tetsu were members of the Oeda Household.

"Let's go Kuma," Sawada said just as Tetsu said, "Let's go Minoru."

Tetsu gave Sawada a brief nod before glancing at me. I nodded in turn, before turning to look at Sawada. He gave me a short look before turning to the rest of the guys.

"You guys go on ahead. I forgot I had something to do," he said and turned back the way we came.

"What's up with him?" Uchi asked.

I tried to fight my curiosity but found that I couldn't. "Hey guys? I forgot something…so see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

Noda looked at me questioningly. He probably thought it had something to do with the café.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded.

"You guys have fun picking up girls or whatever," I said.

"Aww, is Kana jealous?" Minami grinned.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied with a smile. They waved and walked away.

I waited until they were out of sight before doubling back to where Sawada stood with Tetsu next to Tetsu and Minoru's takoyaki stand.

"Kana, right?" Tetsu asked. I nodded. "Ojou talks about you a lot. She's happy to have someone help her keep the guys in line."

I raised an eyebrow. As if she wasn't the one keeping them in line. As far as I could tell, she was doing a great job. Even I was bending to do what she asked during class.

"Is Yankumi going to quit teaching to become the next leader of the Oeda Household?" Sawada asked.

"I don't know," Tetsu answered honestly. "Teaching was always her dream. We all want to see her take up her place as the 4th generation leader, but like her grandfather, I also want her to be happy, because she means a lot to me, to us. So…I entrust her to you guys," he said.

Sawada smiled a bit, though I didn't understand why. I was just happy that Yankumi wouldn't desert us right away.

* * *

"Kuma-chan~! Kuma Kuma Kuma!" Noda said excitedly the next day before class. "I found out for you! Yesterday's girl from Momojou, her name is Morisaki Ami. Isn't the great?!"

The guys began to crowd around Kuma, who looked dazed.

"What's this about?" Sawada asked.

"Yesterday, this Ami girl spilled something on Kuma at the fast food joint, and she wiped it all clean with her handkerchief. Kuma's totally crushing on her," Uchi explained.

"And what if she's also into Kuma too?!" Noda added.

"No way! She has a boyfriend, remember?" Kuma said, hitting Noda lightly.

"Then you should go beat him up!"

"I told you that you guys would be picking up girls," I muttered.

"But…" Kuma protested to the guys' urgings.

"Kuma, love is first come first serve," a voice said. Huh? Yankumi?

"Hey, since when did you get here?" Noda demanded to her.

"Wow, springtime is the season of love," Yankumi murmured.

"Spring's over," Sawada reminded her.

"No worries Kuma, just go for it!" she said.

"Huh?"

"You should tell her your feelings, okay?" she said, and some of the guys began to nod in agreement.

"Hey," Sawada said, standing up and tapping her shoulder, "stop saying irresponsible things."

"Irresponsible? I'm just trying to give him correct advice--"

"Do you even have enough experience in this field to give advice?" he challenged.

There was a long pause during which the entire class leaned in to hear her answer.

"Let's begin class," Yankumi finally said, and the class collapsed in disappointment.

I smirked. Of course Yankumi didn't have love experiences. Who would date a person like her?

* * *

"That rumored group of guys that are beating random people up at night, they're high school kids," Chiba told me that night.

"What?"

"I saw them running away from their latest victim, some college kid. They're from Shinguji, the preppy school by the station."

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

Chiba scoffed, "I'm not going to lay my hands on some high school kid, though if I could, I would give them a taste of my fist. But they're not worth messing with. The police will deal with them."

"That's not what I meant…" I wanted to say but I kept quiet. I couldn't help but think we should tell someone.

* * *

"Hey, you give that girl back her handkerchief yesterday?" I asked Kuma the next morning before homeroom.

"Yeah…" he said, but looked dejected. "But her boyfriend showed up. He's some prep from Shinguji."

I bit my lip. Shinguji? I hoped he wasn't part of the group from Shinguji invoking violence…

"Where's Sawada?" I asked, changing the subject after noticing how depressed Kuma seemed.

"He just sent me a text that he overslept. He's heading over right now."

I nodded.

Just then, two of my classmates dragged in a kid from Class 3-A into the room. The entire class stood up.

"This is the kid that ratted us out to the teachers last night," they said, throwing the kid into the center of the room where the desks were cleared.

"What for?" I asked.

"We were smoking at the arcade last night, and he told the teachers on night duty," they scoffed.

"You rat," Minami said, pushing the kid.

"What makes you so high and mighty that you can tell us what we can or can't do?" Uchi joined in, taunting the student.

The class formed a ring and began to push him around, either chanting or taking turns kicking him.

Kuma and I stood at the back, staring at this scene. I knew that our class was rowdy, but I never knew that they could be so cruel. Sure, they were pissed, but wasn't it their fault to begin with? Who was stupid enough to smoke where they would get caught?

"Hey…" Kuma called out slowly, but his voice was drowned out by the jeers and chants.

I stared at the poor kid, who was covering his head and jerking from the kicks he received. My hands gripped the edge of my desk, knuckles turning white. For a moment, I felt like it was me in the circle, not the kid, being beat up by a different gang before Shun and the others would show up.

"Guys, stop it!" I shouted just as Yankumi charged into the room, yelling "What the hell are you guys doing?!"

The class quieted as Yankumi broke up the circle and leaned over the kid, helping him up.

"Hey, you okay? You're in Class 3-A, right? Go back to class for now, okay?" she said, nudging him out the door before she turned to her own class.

"What is this?" she demanded. "Did you hear me? I want an explanation!"

"That kid ratted us out that we were smoking at the arcade to the teachers!" a guy finally said.

"So you guys all ganged up on him…" Yankumi muttered. "You guys are the worst."

"Last time, you were all into the fight, so why the hell are you changing your mind now?!" Minami demanded.

"So you don't tolerate fighting after all," Noda scoffed.

"You guys don't even know why I'm mad at you! This isn't fighting! This is plain violence! I hate stupid things like this! You all ganged up on one person, without putting in a fair combat, and that's exactly what that group of rumored students is out doing! You're no better than they are! And all of you who just sat and watched are no less wrong than the ones beating him up!"

It gripped me when she said that. I was no less wrong than they were…

"What's the difference between fighting and violence…" Uchi asked slowly.

"Uchiyama," Yankumi said sharply, "are you asking for real?"

"Who knows that kind of stuff?!" he shouted angrily.

"Let's go," Noda said.

"Noda!" Kuma shouted.

"Shut up!" Minami yelled, kicking a desk over before stalking out with the rest.

"Uchi, Minami!" Kuma called after them to no avail. I sighed, running a hand through my hair in frustration before picking up my stuff.

"What happened?" Sawada asked from the doorway of the classroom.

"Come on, Kuma," I said, pushing both of them out the door. I glanced back at Yankumi, who looked forlorn standing in the middle of the empty room. What she said wasn't wrong, but it didn't erase what had happened or the anger that the guys felt. I closed the door behind me.

* * *

We followed the others to the fast food joint they usually went to.

"Hey, I heard what happened from Kuma," Sawada said as we walked in. "You guys had it out with Yankumi, huh?"

"I really can't accept it, her rambling on about the difference between fighting and violence," Minami grumbled angrily.

"I mean, everyone gangs up on people nowadays, right Shin?" Noda reasoned.

Sawada slid into a booth. "Sorry, but I have to side with Yankumi on this one," Sawada said.

The guys stared at him, and Uchi let out an angry breath.

"Have you guys thought about what it'd be like…if you were the one who was ganged up on?" I asked slowly. "Do you know what it's like?"

"Like we'd ever get caught in that situation," they replied.

Maybe they didn't realize that we were all already in that situation, where society was up against us, cornering us with the odds of ten to one. Unfortunately, we would all have to experience that first hand, sooner or later.

Sadly, I already knew what it was like and only believed that it would continue to be like this unless someone came to save me. I couldn't even save myself. Yankumi was right. I was no less worse than everyone else. Instead, I was the worst.


	12. Chapter 12: Many Firsts

**Misunderstandings and Many Firsts**

I spent the night mulling over what Yankumi had said.

"And all of you who just sat and watched are no less wrong than the ones beating him up!"

I winced when I thought of the way it had seemed to be directed at me.

When I woke up, I knew what I had to do. I would tell someone, probably Yankumi, about what I knew about the Shinguji kids. Someone had to stop them, and keeping the information to myself wouldn't help much.

I trudged into homeroom and the guys greeted me with mumbles of "good morning". They were still pretty upset from yesterday.

"Hey, where's Kuma and Sawada?" I asked, looking over at Uchi and Minami. They shrugged, and I sighed. Great. I didn't want to be amidst a group of brooding guys.

Suddenly, a kid from our class named Yagisawa walked in, his arm in a sling and a bandage around his head.

"What happened?!" the class demanded, immediately jumping to their feet.

"I got beat up by that rumored group of kids. They're from Shinguji," he said.

"Those rich preps!" Minami growled.

"Have you told the police about this?" Uchi asked Yagisawa, who shook his head. "Yosh! Then this is our chance to get revenge!" Uchi shouted, raising a fist.

"Wait!" I said, grabbing his arm.

"What?!" he snapped, as the rest were impatient to go.

"You…you can't go," I said.

"So what, are we just going to stand here when our own classmate got beat up?!" Noda demanded.

"Yeah, didn't you ask us yesterday how we'd feel if we were ganged up on?" Minami said. "Well this is what it's like, and we're pissed off! What's wrong with getting back at them?!"

I shook my head. "It isn't right…you can't just all gang up on them…" For one, they would get expelled for even getting involved. Two, as a whole class, they would seriously hurt the people responsible for Yagisawa's injuries. And three…they didn't know the underlying consequences of attacking somebody to "get revenge". It wouldn't end with just one fight. It would lead to another, and another, and another…

"She doesn't get it," I heard someone mutter as a ripple of impatient groans went through the crowd.

"I bet she's somewhat connected to the gang," someone else said, and I froze.

"I mean, she's never around us after school. You never know," someone agreed.

I looked helplessly at Uchi, Minami, and Noda. Noda looked at me guiltily, and I realized what he was thinking about. The café…he couldn't tell them…he promised.

"You don't understand!" I shouted at them before Noda could open his mouth.

"No, YOU don't understand!" Uchi said, yanking his arm from my grasp. "I'm sorry, Kana, but this is a guy thing. A girl like you wouldn't understand."

A girl like me…a girl like me who had been beaten to a pulp before, a girl like me who knew the pain of fighting, a girl like me who was more aware of the dangers of getting caught up in this cycle than this entire class put together...

Before I could really think about what I was doing, I grabbed his collar and yanked him towards me.

"What did you say?!" I said, my voice low and almost inaudible.

He stared at me, then tried to pull away. "You're just a girl," he said.

There was a short pause as I looked at him in disbelief before I lunged at him, infuriated, sure that I had hit him somewhere in the face, before a group of guys held me back. Uchi stared at me from the floor, his skin red from where my fist had grazed his cheek.

"Leave her there!" someone shouted, and I was pushed to the floor before the guys surged out, breaking into a run.

I let my head hit the floor and I closed my eyes, fists still clenched. Somehow, I knew that it would come to this, where I wouldn't be able to say anything to convince anyone. But I had to do something. I reached for my phone.

"Sawada, it's Kana. Yagisawa got beat up so the class went after the Shinguji guys."

"…Kuma did too."

I sat up. "Kuma?"

"He found out that the Shinguji guys' next target is that Ami girl's boyfriend. They're going to beat him up in front of her, so he went to protect her."

At least Kuma's intentions are good, I thought dryly. But I didn't know what to do know next.

"I called Yankumi," Sawada's voice cut into my thoughts. "Meet me at the bus stop by the station."

I hesitated, then agreed. I had to do something, even if no one trusted me.

I crashed into Fujiyama Sensei as I ran out the door.

"What?" she gasped.

I raced on without really looking at her. She must have been shocked that the guys would ditch _her_ class, of all things.

I met Sawada halfway to the bus station.

"They're out by the harbor warehouse," he said as we continued to run. "What happened exactly?"

I explained to him about Yagisawa and how the class went to get revenge. Then I fell silent.

"And what happened to you?" Sawada asked, noticing my silence.

"I tried to stop them…and I sort of lost it," I said. I didn't elaborate, and Sawada didn't ask.

We came across Yankumi when we were almost at the harbor. I did a double take. Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders, and her glasses were gone. Suddenly, she looked very ojou-like.

"The class also went to get revenge, because Yagisawa got beat up last night," Sawada informed her.

"Those guys…" she muttered, before she began to run again. We followed her, and our footsteps thundered in my ears.

"I couldn't stop them…" I said, wondering what she would say to that.

She gave me a nod. "At least you tried, instead of just letting them go."

I bit my lip, concentrating on her words. I had grown up with the notion that attempts were worthless unless they were successful. It was one of the first times I had been, in a way, praised for unsuccessful effort.

When we got to the warehouse, we saw that Uchi and the rest of 3-D were advancing on a group of seven to eight guys wielding metal poles. They were Shinguji students for sure.

"Kuma!" I let out a stifled gasp. He lay between the two groups, immobile and incredibly beat up.

"Don't move!" Yankumi shouted as we ran into the warehouse.

"Kuma," Sawada said, crouching by him and shaking his shoulders.

Yankumi walked up to 3-D and said, "What do you intend to do here?"

"Don't get in the way," Uchi said, stepping forward. "All of those incidents of people getting beat up were done by them!"

Yankumi turned and stared at the Shinguji students, who flinched.

"They even beat up Yagisawa and Kuma!"

"You can't expect us not to do anything about it!"

"Don't you see? If you start a fight here, you'll sink to their level. Then they'll get back at you and it'll become a never ending cycle. Where will it end? It won't, no matter how many times you fight one another."

3-D fell silent. They stared at Yankumi, while I did likewise. There was something about her that caught us spellbound.

She then turned to the Shinguji guys. "You've caused a lot of harm to my students," she said, stepping towards them.

"A teacher?" disbelieving voices muttered.

"Aren't you guys ashamed?" Yankumi asked. "You can't fight one on one, so you gang up on people together? Is that fun?"

"Shut up!" one of them shouted. "Those guys aren't going to do crap in society anyways!"

"And who are you to judge?" she shot back. "I really pity you guys, not even knowing how to fight properly."

"Shut up!" they shouted, and one of them lifted his metal bar and swung it at her. She dodged and grabbed his arm, pushing him to the ground. Another aimed straight at her, but she ducked and punched him in the stomach before tripping him to the ground. He let out a frustrated growl before standing up and moving forward to punch her.

"Yankumi!" Sawada shouted, but she stood her ground.

I winced at the crack that came when the guy's fist connected with her face. When I opened my eyes, I was stunned to see Yankumi still standing, her long hair falling back into place to reveal a bloody lip. The guy stood a distance away, clutching his fist with the other hand and shaking in pain.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Yankumi said. "Of course it does. Not just your arm, but your entire body. To fight using your bare hands causes pain. If you don't even understand the simple obvious, don't go around beating people up with metal sticks!"

Her voice resonated in the warehouse.

"Kuma…" Sawada said suddenly. I helped Kuma sit up, trying to avoid the bruises on his arms.

"You're a real man, Kuma," Yankumi said. "You fought to protect that girl, didn't you? That's the true meaning of fighting."

I looked over and saw a girl in a Momojou uniform crouching behind a box nearby. So this was the rumored Ami…

Yankumi stood up and addressed the entire class. "Listen up! There will come a day when all of you have to fight to protect something. It will test your worth and your limits. To protect something you love is the true meaning of fighting, so don't group it with meaningless violence." At the end, she turned to look at the Shinguji students, some of whom were crying from shame.

3-D stepped forward to help Kuma and the girl up.

"Let's go," Yankumi said.

"What about these guys?" Uchi asked.

"They're not stupid. They've learned their lesson," Yankumi said. She turned to them. "Make sure you guys sort this out yourself. You know what you have to do."

She began to walk out and the class followed her. I turned to look back at the Shinguji students.

"The pain goes away after a night," I said softly to the guy who had punched Yankumi.

I then turned and walked out.

But the pain inside lasts a lot longer than that…

* * *

When I walked out of the warehouse, Class 3-D stood watching as Ami thanked Kuma for protected her. After she had walked away, they began to tease him.

When they saw me, though, voices ceased.

Uchi stepped forward and bowed his head before straightening up and looking me in the eye.

"Gomen*," he said. "We had no right to treat you like that."

I shook my head. It wasn't his fault.

"Gomenasai*!" the class chorused, bowing their heads.

Yankumi and Sawada stared at me, not really understanding what was going on.

"It's fine," I said. "We're cool…thanks." I was so unused to being apologized to that it caused me to tear up a little.

They all straightened and we all sort of smiled nervously. I walked over and punched Uchi lightly in the arm before he slung an arm over my shoulders.

"But seriously, the most shocking thing was Yankumi!" Uchi said.

"Yeah, where did you learn to fight like that?" Minami asked her.

She turned around, eyes wide. "Um, um, um…I watch a lot of Bruce Lee!" she said, doing a couple of cheesy moves, complete with sound effects. She then turned. "You guys won't tell the school what happened, right? I mean, it's bad if they found out about my fighting…"

"Of course we won't tell," Noda said. "Don't worry about it."

Yankumi smiled in relief.

On the way back to school, the guys were singing a song to tease Kuma about the girl. I hung back behind the group with Yankumi and Sawada.

"Why did you lie to them?" Sawada asked.

"Huh?" Yankumi said.

"It's that bad if they found out that you're the successor to the Oeda Household, huh?" Sawada continued.

"Of course it is," Yankumi said. "You guys…YOU GUYS! Why the heck do you know?!"

I looked at her. "Who do you think delivered your phone, huh?" She was speechless. "We won't tell," I added.

"If you got fired, school would be pretty boring," Sawada said.

Yankumi wiped away dramatic tears before pushing to the front of 3-D.

"Let's race to that big sun in front of us! Are you with me? GOOOO!!!" she shouted and took off.

All of us just stood there, watching her run. Some of the guys waved as she ran farther and farther away. I smiled. She was so strange. But she had taught me so much already. For the first time in my life, I was beginning to appreciate a teacher.

"There's a lot we don't know about you," Sawada said quietly.

"I know," I said, looking at the ground.

"You now, if you need to talk, we're always here," he said. I looked up, surprised. I couldn't read his expression, but I could recognize the kindness in his eyes.

"Thanks, Sawada."

"Hey Kana," Uchi said awkwardly, walking over to us. "I…sorry. I was really out of line."

"You already apologized," I pointed out. "It's fine, really. I shouldn't have punched you either."

Sawada raised an eyebrow, noticing the slight tinge on Uchi's cheek for the first time.

"So…wanna hang out tonight?" Uchi asked.

"You don't give up, do you?" I laughed, hitting his shoulder.

I was really beginning to enjoy the time I spent with these guys. I wished it would never end.

* * *

"Hey Shun, guess what? The culprits of the random beatings turned themselves in today," I said when I got to the café.

"Really?"

I sat at the counter during my break and explained to him what had happened as he made me a cappuccino drink. I omitted the detail that Yankumi was part of the Oeda Household.

"You need to keep your temper in check," he said when I finished. "But I'm glad it turned out okay."

I nodded. That, I knew.

"Kana!"

I turned around to meet Noda's smile.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked.

He shuffled his feet a bit before looking me in the eye. "Why can't I tell about your job?"

Shun stopped what he was doing as I stared at Noda.

"I mean, that misunderstanding today would have never happened if you told everyone what you did after school," he rambled on. "I knew you didn't want me to tell, but it wasn't cool what they said…"

"But that doesn't change the fact that I'm a girl," I said calmly. "That misunderstanding was bound to happen anyways…Just keep it a secret until I'm ready to tell the others, okay?"

He nodded, not completely understanding but willing to do as I asked. Shun resumed making my drink as I sat at the counter, brooding over how long this façade would last. The first cracks were already starting to appear, if they weren't already there to begin with.

* * *

*_gomen/gomenasai: Sorry_


	13. Chapter 13: Participation

**Participation**

When I arrived at school one day, I found many of the students outside practicing various sports.

"What's going on?" I asked Uchi when I got to class.

"The school's sports tournament," he replied. "Soccer, softball, basketball, and ping pong."

"So, does the winning class get anything?" I asked.

Uchi shook his head. "But we get lots of class time off, right?" he grinned. I shook my head in amusement. A sports tournament? I wasn't particularly good at any sport, if knocking people down didn't count. But perhaps they wouldn't even let a girl participate.

"The sport's tournament is coming up!" Yankumi announced during homeroom. Everyone cheered. "Wow, you guys are all fired up! Let's do our best!"

She then realized that no one was paying attention. "Hey hey, what's going on?" she said, coming over to us.

"We hate sweating, you know," Noda said.

"Sweaty guys aren't very attractive," Uchi agreed. I began to laugh.

"But I thought you guys were happy," Yankumi said.

"We're happy because we get a day off of class," Sawada explained. The guys chorused in agreement.

"Yankumi, why am I under ping pong?" a guy said suddenly, staring at the posters in front of the room. We all stood up to see what it was all about. Sawada and I were under soccer. Uchi, Minami, Noda, and Kuma were under basketball. And Yankumi…_Yankumi_?

"Hey, you're playing?" Sawada asked her. She nodded.

"We have one less person than other classes, so I'm filling in," she said.

Everyone groaned and sat down, not willing to participate.

Soccer was okay, but I had a feeling things would get a little bit too rough if our class participated. Perhaps it was better this way.

* * *

"Hey, guess what? Our school's doing a sports tournament," I said to Shun.

"Oh, it's that time of year?" Shun asked.

Chiba, who sat at the side, snickered. "I remember last year. You gave some kid a bloody nose for trying to get the ball from you."

"And then all the girls in your class disliked you for disfiguring the best looking guy at school," Shun chuckled.

They both stopped when they saw my glare.

"It's not funny," I said, remembering how much unnecessary drama that one event had caused. "That guy deserved it."

"Of course," Shun said but Chiba rolled his eyes. "Hey Chiba, it's your turn to close the café."

"Got it," Chiba said, standing up and going to the front.

"At least this year, there won't be any girls that will get jealous," I mused, "though I doubt our class will participate anyways."

I noticed Shun watching me and tilted my head at him. "What?"

He gave me a small smile. "You seem happier."

I looked at him questioningly. "Really?"

"Yeah."

I shrugged. Was I happier? Maybe. I smiled a little. Maybe, because of a certain class and teacher.

* * *

During homeroom the next day, Yankumi brought up the sports tournament again.

"Starting today, we'll do daily practices!" she announced.

"What? Why? We don't have time for this," the class grumbled. I nodded in agreement. I had no time to stay after school.

"Of course, there's a prize," Yankumi said. Everyone perked up. "If you win, you get a kiss on the cheek!"

"From who?" Kuma asked.

"From me, of course," Yankumi answered.

The class sat back with a groan. Half of them stared at her disgustedly and the other half refused to look at her. I shook my head in amusement. Uchi stood up to face the back wall.

"What…oh I see. You guys won't settle for just the cheek…" Yankumi said.

"That should be a punishment!" Uchi shouted from the back. I burst out laughing. Even Sawada was grinning.

"Yankumi, I certainly don't need a kiss from you, and I'm sure the guys don't either," I said.

"But if it's from Kana…" Minami said coyly and the other guys leapt to their feet, cheering.

"HEY! Even if Yamaguchi Sensei's not here, you have to be quiet during homeroom!" Sawatari shouted from the doorway.

"I am here," Yankumi said, waving. "Sorry. I was just pumping them up for the sports tournament."

"Hmph. Like they actually want to participate," he scoffed.

"Of course they do, they most certainly do!" Yankumi said.

"There's no point in letting them participate anyways," Sawatari said. "They might as well not play, since they won't win. They'll break the rules and will only cause problems. Look at them. They're useless."

This infuriated the boys and they marched up to Sawatari. I was angry but what good would threatening him do?

Uchi pushed to the very front. "If we win, what will you give us?" he demanded.

"If you win?" he asked. "Alright, if you win, I'll wear honey in my hair instead of pomade, and I'll let you do whatever you want for an entire day."

The class began to agree. Sawatari Kyoutou then turned to me.

"Nakajima-san, I'm sure you don't want to participate in such a rough event with these…rowdy people," he said with a creepy smile.

"I'm under soccer. I'm playing," I said immediately. Inwardly, I sighed. What would I tell Shun?

"Fine. But Yamaguchi Sensei, each student can only participate in one sport, and teacher's cannot participate."

"But we don't have enough people for basketball," Noda pointed out.

"And that means we can't win the tournament. That's playing cheap!" Uchi growled.

"No worries. We actually have another student in our class named Yuuki," Yankumi said.

"Yuuki? Who's that?" Uchi asked. The class mumbled in wonder.

I saw Minami and Kuma exchange a look. Sawada was watching them but he shook his head when I looked at him questioningly.

"You mean you guys don't know? Well, he doesn't come to school now, but I intend to bring him back. Come on, 3-D, let's take them head on!" Yankumi said enthusiastically.

The class stared at her blankly, while Sawatari just scoffed and left.

"So, Kana…" the class turned to me, ignoring Yankumi. "How about it? If we win, you'll give us a kiss on the cheek?"

I thought about it. It was lame, really, that they needed the motivation.

"Well, if that Yuuki kid really shows up and we can participate, then why not? If your team wins your sport, then I'll give that whole team a kiss on the cheek," I said.

Sawada looked at me like I was crazy.

"What are the chances?" I said quietly to him.

"Not very high," he grinned.

I looked over and saw that Minami wasn't excited like the rest. Instead, he and Kuma sat looking gloomy. Since Minami suggested the whole thing, I would have thought that he would be one of the ones cheering that I had agreed.

"What's up?" I asked them.

"Oh, nothing," they said, snapping out of it.

* * *

Yankumi told us to stay after school for practice, promising us that Yuuki would come and we would be able to play.

"Hey Sawada, I can't stay today, but I'll start coming to practice tomorrow," I said. If Shun would let me...

When I walked past the gym as I was about to leave, I saw Class 3-C practicing. They were doing pretty good, and they even had Shinohara-san, the detective Yankumi was crazy about, coaching them.

3-D on the other hand…Minami and Kuma lay around as Uchi and Noda took turns rolling the basketball to knock down batons set up as bowling pins. I sighed. This was a winning team? But of course, more than that, the main question was whether or not Yuuki would show up. Without him, hours of practice would amount to absolutely nothing.

Whoever this Yuuki kid was, he seemed admant about not coming.

*********

_Thanks for your suggestions. They're really helpful. _:]


	14. Chapter 14: Practice

**Practice**

Shun agreed to let me stay for practice, as long as I promised to come home right away and work until the café closed.

"So, do you play soccer?" I asked Sawada as we headed out to the field after school.

"I did, back in junior high," he answered. "You?"

I cracked a grin. "Sort of. I'm lethal."

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask. I was sure that sooner or later, he would see for himself anyway.

Our practices didn't amount to much. We just kicked the ball back and forth and into the goals. The other members of our team weren't very enthusiastic, so we cut the practice short.

"Hey, it's Tetsu and Minoru," I said when Sawada and I walked past the gym.

We watched as Tetsu began to teach Minami, Uchi, Noda, and Kuma how to elbow your opponent while pretending to guard. Minoru watched admirably from the sidelines until Yankumi showed up and told them to stop.

"What are they doing here?" I asked wonderingly.

"Tetsu-san probably wanted to show Yankumi he can coach just as well as Shinohara," Sawada speculated. We both smirked before heading back to the classroom. The drama that surrounded Yankumi was entertaining.

When we had gathered up all our stuff and were about to leave, we saw Kuma and Minami talking to Abe, a Class 3-C student, on the upper level right by our class.

"I heard Yuuki's on your team? With us as your opponent, there's no use in trying to win, much less trying to bring Yuuki back," he scoffed. I narrowed my eyes. I hated arrogant people like him.

"What was that?!" Kuma demanded. Minami held him back.

"Well do your best, just for the heck of it," Abe laughed and left.

Minami let out an angry breath before turning and spotting us. "Shin, Kana…"

"You know, you should make things right," Sawada said, before walking on. I stared after him, then up at Minami and Kuma, who looked perplexed. I walked after Sawada.

"What was that--"

Sawada suddenly pulled me against the wall and shushed me. I stared at him. He tilted his head towards where Kuma and Minami stood.

We heard Yankumi walk up and ask Minami and Kuma what they were doing.

"Hey Yankumi, are you going to Yuuki's again?" Kuma asked.

"Yeah, why? Do you want to come too?"

"If we went, that guy would never come to school again," Minami said. He went on to explain. "Last year, we, along with Abe from 3-C, picked on Yuuki together. We didn't have a reason…it just happened to be him. It could have been anyone else. But we're the reason he stopped coming to school."

I looked at Sawada, finally understanding what he meant. I could see why Yuuki wasn't coming back. If I were him, I would be scared too. When I looked up at Minami and Kuma, they were bracing themselves, expecting Yankumi to unleash her fury. Instead, she smiled.

"Thanks for telling me. I understand now," she said. "You guys learned your lesson, right?"

They protested as she ruffled their hair. Sawada nudged me so we could leave.

Yankumi was so fair, I thought. She's so good to us. Why?

* * *

For some reason, the class was more pumped up now and ready to take the challenge. Every team practiced really hard everyday, and though improvement was slow, it was there. We finally were able to kick the ball to each other and not completely miss or over-calculate our strength. According to Uchi, the basketball team could now dribble in a circle and pass to each other quickly and accurately too. The only thing left was for Yuuki to come back.

* * *

On the day before the actual tournament, right before practice, Tetsu came into our classroom, looking for Yankumi. Luckily, Sawada and I were the only ones there.

"She's probably at Yuuki's," Sawada answered. "…though there's probably no point in going."

"Ojou can't leave him alone," Tetsu said suddenly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"What I'm about to tell you know, can you keep it a secret within yourselves?" he asked us.

Sawada and I glanced at each other before nodding. "Hai."

"When Ojou was seven, her parents died, and her grandfather took her in. For a while, she would come home everyday beat up everywhere. Her grandfather taught her that it was more important to be able to stand up on one's own feet rather than to accept help immediately from people around you. From then on, she resolved to be strong. She and her grandfather practiced everyday, where he would throw her to the ground and she would have to get back up and push back over and over. During this time, she learned that in order to be strong, both the heart and body must be strong. One cannot work without the other. Ojou learned her strength at that young age. That's why she can't leave Yuuki alone."

Tetsu stared at us, while we absorbed this information. I admired Yankumi a lot. She was so different from me, though we had similar experiences. She had been so young, yet she had become so strong…

"I seem to have said too much," Tetsu said, and he left the room.

Sawada and I stood in silence, contemplating, before he nudged me to go to practice.

Yankumi wouldn't give up, that was for sure, but would Yuuki give in?

* * *

"Kana!"

I snapped out of my thoughts when Shun called to me. He was motioning to the café's refrigerator.

"Chiba forgot to buy the groceries, he isn't back yet, and I don't have the ingredients to make cappuccino. Will you buy them really fast?" he asked.

I nodded and changed out of my uniform before grabbing my wallet and jacket and taking off.

I shivered a little bit as I ran. It was already dark out, and the street lights were coming on.

After buying the ingredients, I ran quickly back the way I had come.

Suddenly, I crashed into a group of people when turning a corner. I looked up, fearing who they could be.

"Kana?"

Noda, Minami, Uchi, Kuma, and Sawada stared down at me in surprise.

I scrambled to my feet. Luckily, the milk hadn't spilled when I dropped the grocery bag.

"Hey, you live around here?" Minami asked, noticing what I was holding.

"Um…"

"Hey, isn't that Yankumi?" Noda said suddenly. I looked at him, grateful for changing the subject, but when I turned, Yankumi was actually there.

She was wrestling a younger guy in the dirt by the local shrine. She threw him down and he skidded across the sand.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded. "Can't you get up on your own?! Don't wait around for someone to offer you a hand. If you do that, you'll always be weak!"

This boy…it had to be Yuuki. Otherwise, why would she be doing this?

"This world doesn't favor people who can't stand on their own two feet!"

At these words, Yuuki charged at her. She threw him down again.

"Is that all you got?!"

He went for her again, and they struggled for a longer time before Yankumi pushed him down once more.

In my heart, I rooted for Yuuki. He was just like me, weak and vulnerable.

"Everyone wants to run away when something bad happens. But if you run away, it's over! To stand and fight back means to live. Being able to stand on your own means you're strong. Are you weak?" Yankumi shouted at him.

He threw himself at her and I could see that he was mustering all of his strength. We watched as Yuuki knocked both of them to the ground.

"See, you can do it," Yankumi said after they caught their breaths. "Don't forget that you can stand up yourself and live to the fullest.

Yuuki pulled himself up and began to walk away.

"Come to the sports tournament tomorrow! We're counting on you," she called after him. He didn't look back.

She then turned and saw us.

"You guys saw that, huh?" she said. She smiled. "Don't give me such glum looks. It's all up to him now."

Sawada stared at her for a long time.

"Come on, you guys, go home," she said. "Rest for tomorrow."

I then remembered Shun. He was going to be so mad…

"Shoot! I have to go," I said, clutching the grocery bag firmly in my hand. "Bye!"

I didn't wait for a response and took off.

But I was glad I had seen that. Yankumi was truly bringing out the inner strength in everyone. I hoped to someone that didn't disappoint her, but I still had lots to learn.


	15. Chapter 15: Tournament Day

**Tournament Day**

The next morning, we waited but Yuuki did not come.

"It's alright. We'll do our best," Kuma said to Yankumi.

"And if he doesn't show up, I could find a disguise and play basketball too," Sawada said. If he had said that any other time, I would have found it amusing, but he seemed dead serious.

"Alright everyone, gather 'round," she said, putting out her hand. We all stacked our hands on top of hers. "We'll do our best. Fight-"

"OH!" we shouted.

* * *

"Game START!"

At the whistle, our team took off. Everyone ran hard for the ball.

"Pass it, pass it!"

"Kick it, kick it!"

"Don't let him get it!"

The rest of 3-D was watching the softball game, so there were no other sounds on the field besides the shouts and calls that the soccer teams made.

Our basic strategy was to have three or four players kick the ball back and forth while the rest of the team blocked our opponents. It got a little rough, as blocking began to consist of tripping and waving arms in people's faces, but we were on a roll. The soccer match was going pretty well until we had a kick off. Our guy went for it as hard as he could, somehow missed, and kicked his opponent. Some of the guys on our team thought it was funny and congratulated him, but we got kicked out for "deliberate injury".

Sawada stood off to the side, rolling his eyes.

"Man, I really thought it was going to be me that hurt someone," I said, amused. Wouldn't Shun get a kick out of this?

"Well, that's one less team you'll have to kiss," Sawada said to me and I grinned.

"That's right! Ha! Now I don't have to kiss you guys!" I said, leading them back to the classroom. They trudged in behind me, depressed. Suddenly, the door opened and the rest of 3-D walked in with Yankumi. They had been either observing or participating in the softball game. We stared at each other.

"Your match is over already?" Yankumi asked.

"Disqualified for deliberate injury," Sawada said.

Yankumi sighed. "You guys too?"

"And what about you guys?" I asked.

"Their pitcher hit our batter with the ball, and so we sort of lost it and went after the entire team…" Uchi explained. Ah, that would explain it.

"Well, there's always ping-pong," Yankumi said.

At that moment, our two ping-pong players walked in, rubbing the back of their necks.

"We kind of got mad and flipped the table over, so we got disqualified," they said. "Sorry."

The whole class hung their heads in disappointment.

"So that leaves basketball…" Yankumi said.

The class looked at each other. Yuuki still had not come.

* * *

When we got to the gym, Class 3-C, our first opponent, was already there warming up.

"Hey, do your best, okay?" I said to Uchi.

Abe sauntered up to us.

"Yuuki's not here yet?" he smirked.

"Mind your own business," I snapped.

"Well it's not like you guys can win anyways," he said.

"Says who?" I demanded.

"Kana…" Uchi urged, trying to separate me and Abe. I could see that he was also doing his best not to lunge at Abe himself. "Don't talk to him."

"I say," Abe retorted, pushing past Uchi.

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine. If Yuuki actually shows up and we play against you guys, and if we win, you have to go out with me," Abe said.

"And if you lose?" I demanded.

"I'll announce that 3-D is the best class at this school on the loudspeakers."

"Kana," Uchi said again, but I had already made up my mind.

"Deal," I said, and we shook on it. Abe smirked at me before walking back to his team.

"What the hell, Kana?" Uchi said. "He's the worst guy you could ever go out with."

I've seen worse, I wanted to say. Instead, I clapped him on the back and smiled. "Now you'll just have to win for me, won't you?"

"3-D is one player short," Sawatari said when the two teams lined up to face each other.

"There's still two minutes until game time," Yankumi told him.

"Fine. Two minutes until you are officially disqualified," Sawtari said.

"Might as well just give up now," Abe sneered at our team.

"What's that?!" Kuma demanded and would have attacked him if Minami didn't hold him back. The two teams leered at each other.

"Time!" Sawatari shouted. "3-D, you're disqualified," he said, about to blow his whistle when the sound of a door opening stopped him.

We all looked over at the gym entrance and saw Yuuki walking towards Yankumi slowly but determinedly. He had a bandage on his cheek. He stopped next to Uchi.

"We have all 5 team members," Yankumi said to Sawatari who shrugged.

"Very well, then. Proceed with the game," he said and blew his whistle. The two teams bowed to each other before heading to the appropriate side of the court.

I saw Abe stop Yuuki and sneer softly, "I didn't know you were alive. I thought you died."

Sawada grabbed my arm when I made a move towards them.

"It's up to him now," Sawada reminded me. True, but that didn't make me want to pound Abe's arrogant face into the ground any less.

"Ganbare!!!!" everyone shouted as the game began.

I saw that 3-C took every chance they could to knock into Yuuki. They played dirty against the whole team, but Yuuki especially suffered. I fumed. Sawatari must be freakin' blind if he didn't notice all the fouls that should have been called. Uchi passed the ball to Yuuki, but Abe punched him in the stomach as he stole the ball from him. Yuuki doubled over and coughed.

But that wasn't the end of it. Kuma couldn't keep tight control of the ball, and when Noda got knocked over, he also knocked Uchi down with him. I groaned. Minami was the only one making shots. Yuuki was getting beaten and bruised all over for even touching the ball. There was no doubt that Abe was a skillful player, but using brute force to win this game wasn't getting him any points in my book.

Our class was getting more and more aggravated. I wondered how long it would be before they all jumped on the court and attacked 3-C's players.

The score was ridiculous at halftime. 21 to 2. We were losing, of course.

As we watched, Minami suddenly gained access to the ball. He dribbled a bit and then passed it to Yuuki, who dribbled down to the basket.

"Go Yuuki!" I shouted.

Suddenly, Abe came and tripped him, and Yuuki fell flat on the ground. As Noda, Minami, Uchi, and Kuma shouted at Sawatari to call a foul, I watched Yuuki just lay there. All voices ceased when people realized that Yuuki was immobile. Minami went over and stuck out his hand to help him up. It was a big step for Minami to fess up to his mistakes and try to make things right again. Yuuki stared at the hand, then looked back at the ground.

"Hey," Minami said to Yuuki kindly. Yuuki looked back up at him and time seemed to pause.

"I'm fine," Yuuki said finally and got up by himself. He turned to look at Abe bravely in the eyes, and Abe's smirk fell into an annoyed glare.

Yankumi's smile was radiant. "You guys, go and get those cheaters! You guys can win!"

Our class cheered for Yuuki's sportsmanship, riled up once more. I smiled, knowing that things would be drastically different now.

3-D began to work as a team. Uchi passed to Minami, who did awesome lay-ups. Noda shot great free-throws. Kuma, unable to pass to anyone, once shot backwards, making a three pointer. The team spirit was up and so was our score. We were now tied at 35 to 35 right at the end of the game.

Yuuki managed to steal the ball from Abe, and dribbled down to our basked. He did a crazy around-the-body move and shot a lay-up which made. Yuuki, Noda, Minami, Uchi, and Kuma began to jump around, exchanging high-fives.

"Game over!" Sawatari shouted. We all stared in silence as we watched the scoreboard. Our 35 became a 37.

"We won? WE WON! YATTA!!!!" everyone in 3-D began to scream and shout, racing onto the court to bombard our team with high fives and hugs.

"That was awesome, Yuuki!" I said. He stared at me, probably surprised to see a girl in the crowd, but he smiled anyways.

"Thanks."

"We won, Kana! Yeah!" Uchi shouted, jumping up and down next to me. Noda hopped next to me as well, excited.

"You guys did great," I said, smiling.

I looked over and saw Minami and Kuma apologize to Yuuki for having bullied him. Yuuki shook his head.

"Don't apologize. It's all of the past now," he said with a smile, and they all shook hands.

I walked up to Abe who was watching this exchange with a frown.

"So who's the best class at this school?" I said with a smile. He scowled at me. "If it helps, I think you're pretty good at basketball. But if you ever touch Yuuki again, I will send the entire class on you," I warned before walking away.

I saw Sawada smiling in the midst of the celebration. He caught my eye and grinned. At least it all ended well.

* * *

"Hey, I think I'm going to start by repeating second year," Yuuki said to us. "I did miss a lot of it, and I want to get as full of a high school experience as possible, since all of you made it seem so fun."

After expressing our support, we all went with him to the teacher's lounge. We waited outside while he talked to Sawatari about it.

"Well…I guess that's fine," Sawatari sputtered, since he had been on the verge of expelling Yuuki for having missed so much school.

"Do your best," Yankumi said to Yuuki.

"Thanks, Yankumi," Yuuki said to her.

The rest of us burst into the teacher's lounge. Minami and Kuma gave Yuuki a thumbs up, which he returned.

I walked over and gave a baffled Yuuki a quick kiss on the cheek. After all, they did win the basketball portion of the tournament. Everyone whistled as Yuuki blushed. He was a cute kid, though the time he refused to come to school was a bit annoying.

"Where's ours?" Minami demanded.

"Since you guys are all awesome, I'll do you a special service!" Yankumi said. "I'll kiss you all on the cheek anyways!" She puckered her lips.

"YECH!" the guys shouted and ran out of the teacher's lounge as fast as they could. Yankumi chased after them, surprised by the rejection, while Yuuki and I stood there and laughed.

* * *

Back in class, Minami demanded his prize. Kuma had refused a kiss from me, most likely because of Ami. Noda had hesitated, but since he wasn't sure Fujiyama Sensei would go out with him, he decided that he should keep me as back up. I rolled my eyes at this before kissing his cheek. I did owe him a lot, so it was the least I could do.

"My turn, my turn!" Minami shouted.

"Fine, fine," I said, and kissed his cheek as quickly as I could.

He jumped up and began to brag about it to the whole class, though actual skin contact had been less than a second.

Uchi hung back shyly.

"Thanks to you, I don't have to go out with that Abe freak," I said, leaning up to kiss him.

"That's not fair!" Minami immediately shouted. "You actually gave him a proper kiss on the cheek!!!"

"And where's ours?!" the rest of the class complained.

"Forget you guys," I said laughing, and they surrounded me with protests. I used Uchi as a shield and smiled down at my class. I wouldn't exchange them for the world.

* * *

"How was the tournament?" Shun asked me.

"It went well. We got disqualified from soccer, which wasn't _my_ fault by the way, but our basketball team won," I said.

"That's great," he said.

"And Shun?"

"Yeah?"

"You're right. I am happier."

He smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately. "I'm glad."

But the cynical side of me wondered how long it would last.

* * * * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the reviews. I realize that this chapter and the previous one may be a little dull...I suppose I couldn't think of anything new for this episode, since all my creative juices were sucked up into the next few hefty chapters. Hopefully those will be up to par. Thanks again for reading and for commenting! :D


	16. Chapter 16: Sawada's Sister

**Sawada's Sister**

"Hey Kana?"

"Hmm?" I asked from where I stood, putting my textbooks in my bag. I looked up and saw Shun walk towards me with a tired expression on his face.

"Sorry to do this to you, but I'm going to be out for a couple of days."

I looked at him, immediately concerned. "What happened?"

"Just things I need to take care of."

By "things", he could mean anything. I had heard snatches of conversations between Chiba and some other guys that other groups around our area were getting rowdy.

As our "leader" so to speak, Shun had an obligation to try to keep the peace…or to battle it out with them.

"Should Chiba and I run the café then?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Chiba's coming with me, so you can leave the café closed until I come back. I'll put up a sign."

I nodded slowly. "Take care, Shun."

He smiled briefly. "You too."

* * *

When I got to school, I found that I could only focus on Shun. He never seemed…anxious like he had this morning.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked when I nearly ran into Uchi, Minami, Noda, and Kuma who were huddled up by the school gate.

"She's so~ pretty!" Noda said. _Huh_?

I looked over and saw that on the other side of the school gate stood a girl wearing a school uniform from the prestigious Girls' Academy nearby. All the guys were leering at her as they walked by.

"Who is she?" I asked, but no one seemed to know.

"I'm going to ask her," Minami said and started forward, but Uchi and Noda grabbed his arm. They began to bicker over who would walk over to ask.

"I'm going to go!"

"No, I will!"

"What gives you that right?!"

"If she's standing there in front of our school, she probably is waiting for her boyfriend," I said. They turned to glare at me.

"Ah…she's gone," Kuma suddenly said.

"Ah~ what a waste," Minami said as we walked to class. He then quickly changed the subject. "Man, I have my parent-student-teacher conference today"

That's right. The parent-student-teacher three-way conference began today. Minami and Kuma were among the students who had their conference today. Uchi and Noda's was tomorrow, and Sawada and I had ours on the last day.

I had completely forgotten to tell Shun about it. Oh well. Not like he was going to be around anyways. Besides, he wasn't my parent, and as far as I was concerned, my future looked like it could only end up one way: just like my life was now.

We had regular class, and then we got moved to the auditorium for the time that Yankumi had her conferences with students and their parents. I caught a glimpse of some of the 3-D mothers that had come. What would it have been like if my mom was alive? Would she walk proudly to the conference? I shook my head, clearing those useless thoughts.

When the six of us were walking out after school was over, we ran into Yankumi.

"I'm so tired…" she said. I couldn't blame her. I had heard some of the horror stories, otherwise known as overprotective mothers, that teachers had to deal with. "Hey, why aren't you guys going home with your parents?" she asked Kuma and Minami.

"Why should we?" Kuma asked exasperatedly, as if it were obvious.

"Ah!" Noda said suddenly. "I found her!"

We all looked up and saw the girl from this morning standing by the gate again. Some of the 3-D guys were asking her - and flirting while they were at it - about her business at Shirokin.

"Ah," Sawada said softly.

The girl turned to look at us and her pretty face brightened. She ran towards us, and Noda, Uchi, and Minami immediately flung out their arms to her. Even Yankumi did, though I don't know why. The girl completely ignored them however, and went up to Sawada.

"I waited for so long! I almost gave up," she said with a small pout.

"What's up?" Sawada asked her.

"Eh? What is going on?" Uchi asked, voicing all of our thoughts.

"Are you Sawada's girlfriend?" Yankumi asked boldly.

"Really?!" Kuma asked.

"That's cheap, man! Acting like you don't have an interest in girls!" Minami growled, puffing up his face.

"And you've been hiding it from us?!" Noda demanded.

"What kind of friend are you?" Uchi added.

I found the situation to be rather amusing, but I was curious. Sawada had a girlfriend?

Our questions were answered when the girl bowed cutely and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Sawada Natsumi."

"Sawada?" Minami squawked.

"Which means…" Noda said. _Oh…_

"Sorry to disappoint you guys, but this is my younger sister," Sawada said coolly. She nodded with a shy smile. I honestly thought that they couldn't have been more different.

The guys by the gate collapsed in a heap, knowing that they would never get a chance with her as far as Sawada was concerned.

"Younger sister?" everyone gasped.

* * *

Since I didn't have work, I tagged along when the guys went bowling. Natsumi and Yankumi came too.

"Yeah!" Uchi shouted as he bowled a strike. Noda and I clapped for him.

"Man, you could of told us earlier that you have such a cute sister, Shin," Minami said suddenly.

"You thought that if you introduced her to them, nothing good would come out of it, right?" Yankumi butted in.

"Why are you even here?" Sawada asked, causing her to drop her bowling ball into the gutter.

"I wanted to know what kind of things you guys did outside of school, since having your parents at the conference probably makes it difficult to say…"

"What era were you born in?" Noda asked. Teachers rarely cared at all about these kinds of things, as long as we didn't cause trouble and "taint" the school's reputation. Yankumi really was different.

"Hey, Natsumi-chan, how come you came to see him at school? Can't you see him at home?" Yankumi asked.

The siblings gave each other an identical look, the look that others interpreted as one of irritation or exasperation look, but I could see that it held more meaning than that.

"I don't see him at home," she answered.

"Eh?" we all asked.

"I'm living alone right now," he said as they both bowled a strike. I could imagine Sawada living on his own, but I didn't know that he was actually doing so. But more than that, I was surprised that the guys didn't know.

"How come I don't know this?" Yankumi asked.

"I didn't tell you," he answered simply. There was a flash of insecurity behind his seemingly emotionless expression, but it was gone immediately. I shrugged it off, figuring that Sawada had his own problems too. There was no need to pry. Even if I did, Sawada probably wouldn't tell me much.

"Let's all go over sometime!" Kuma said suddenly. The guys all slapped him on the head, saying, "That's not the point!"

"So I sort of wanted to see Oniichan*," Natsumi said.

"Aww~ oniichan," the guys teased Sawada. "You're so loved." Sawada sat back, annoyed.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Natsumi-chan?" Minami asked.

"No, I don't," She said, as if it were obvious.

"Great! Then the person who gets the highest score in this game gets a date with her, okay?" he said. Uchi and Noda nodded in excitement.

"Hey, don't decide without asking," Sawada said sharply.

"Aww~ is Oniichan worried?" Yankumi teased.

"Shut up. It's your turn," he said. She obediently went to play.

"Whoa. If, say, I got married to Natsumi-chan, I would call Sawada Oniichan!" Uchi said. I began to laugh. Stupid Uchi.

"That's not going to happen. And it's Onii-sama*, not Oniichan," Sawada corrected.

"Onii-sama!" the guys laughed and began to tickle him. Despite his cool appearance, Sawada was very ticklish. He begged them to stop.

"My brother seems very happy with his friends," Natsumi said to me. I smiled. She asked me if I was going out with any of the guys.

"No," I answered with a small laugh. "We're just friends."

"You must all be very close," she smiled.

As the guys came back to flirt with Natsumi, I turned to Sawada.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"Just wondering why my sister's here," he answered. "I hope there's no problem at home…"

"Hey Kana! If you got married to Sawada, Natsumi would be your little sister!" Noda suddenly said.

"Baka*," I said. "I don't plan on getting married."

"Then what are you going to do after graduation?" Yankumi asked. The guys looked at me curiously.

"…I'm not sure yet," I mumbled. As much as I hated talking about the past, I hated discussing my future even more.

"Time to go," I said, standing up. Sawada glanced at me.

"You didn't even have a turn yet."

"Bowling's not my thing," I shrugged, grabbing my stuff. "See you guys tomorrow. Nice to meet you Natsumi."

I began to walk off. Suddenly I heard Uchi call my name. I turned and saw him running after me, pulling on his jacket.

"I'm going with you," he said. I looked at him questioningly. "Well…you know, you haven't been hanging out with us that much and…so yeah…"

"Oh…okay…" I said. Without Shun and the other around, I could use the company. I would be going home to an empty place anyways. "You'll lose your chances with Natsumi if you leave now."

"Doesn't matter," he said casually as we walked out.

"So…treat me to a snack?" I asked cheekily, and he grinned.

"Let's go," he said.

We just caught up on a bunch of things for a few hours over ice cream. Uchi's mom had gotten a job as a dating counselor, and that was going well, though Uchi would be dead before he told the others.

"I just hope that she doesn't bring one of her stupid dating videos tomorrow for Yankumi," he groaned.

"She probably needs it though," I mused, and we both laughed.

"So…do you have any siblings?" he asked. "I just realized I don't know much about your family and stuff."

I shook my head.

"Then…a mom and dad?" he asked.

"…Yeah…" I said finally. He noticed my hesitation.

"Is your relationship with them not that great? Is that…is that why you can't hang out with us usually?"

I gave him a soft look. "It's complicated…I'll tell you about sometime."

He nodded and smiled warmly. "Whenever you want."

I wondered why I held back the truth from Uchi, and why I told Sawada…or at least part of the truth. Perhaps I thought Uchi wouldn't be able to handle it…or that it would hurt too much to see him pity me. Sawada would care...I knew he did care, but he wouldn't worry about me as much. We would deal with our own problems. To each his own.

*************

*Oniichan: older brother  
*Oniisama: formal, more respectful way of saying older brother  
*Baka: stupid/idiot


	17. Chapter 17: The First Telling

**The First Telling**

The next day, Uchi and Noda had their parent conferences. According to them, everything had gone amiss. Noda fought with his parents about where he would live during his college years, and Uchi, as he had suspected, had to sit there as his mom explained and advertised her new job to Yankumi.

Minami bugged Uchi and me about what we did after we left the bowling place together, but we ignored his persistent questions. He stared at us suspiciously the entire day.

That night, unable to stand the dark lonely building, I walked out of the house to go to the convenience store. I didn't mind walking, as long as it was still light out.

"Hey," a voice said from behind me as I reached for a Coke bottle. I turned and was surprised to see Sawada standing there, holding a microwave dinner package.

"Hey," I returned, and we walked out together after we paid for our items.

We were talking about a few random things when we suddenly passed Yankumi. She was complaining to herself about pain in her shoulder.

"It's called a strained muscle," Sawada said as we walked by her.

"Huh," Yankumi said, turning. "Oh. What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

"Dinner," he answered.

"Together?" she asked curiously.

"We ran into each other," I explained. She nodded, then looked as if she was sorry for us.

"You guys…having to eat convenience store dinners…you need to eat more meals that are made with love. What is this country coming to?" she muttered to herself.

Sawada and I exchanged a look. _What the…_

Yankumi suddenly looked around to see if anyone was looking, then grabbed our arms and began to drag us.

"You're coming over for dinner!"

Half an hour later, I sat at a long table with a shimmering hot pot in front of me.

"Don't hesitate, eat up!" Yankumi told us. I took a bite and couldn't supress my smile. It was delicious. Shun or I usually cooked, or we just bought something, but I hadn't had a meal like this in a long time.

"Thank you," I said as Wakamatsu filled my plate with steaming vegetables and meat.

"We have this at least once a week, since Ojou loves it," he explained kindly.

"So why do you live alone?" Yankumi asked Sawada as we were eating.

"I've always wanted to try it. It's cool because I get to things my own way," he answered.

"Don't you get lonely?" she asked.

"No," he said simply, continuing to eat. Yankumi then turned to me.

"What about you, Kana? Who do you live with?"

I froze. "Um…my family," I said after a pause.

"I should have asked earlier! Won't they be worried about where you are?" she asked, alarmed.

"We never eat together during the week," I said. So I was lying to my teacher. I tried to ignore the look Sawada gave me.

Luckily at that moment, Tetsu and Minoru began to fight over one particular piece of meat.

"Hey! It's rude to fight in front of the guests!" Wakamatsu scolded sharply.

"Hai," they said obediently and began to eat again.

Sawada and I grinned at each other. Eating with these people was so weird! But I looked at the meal in front of me and knew what Yankumi meant by a "meal made with love". Though seemingly out of place in a Yakuza household, love was evident in this place. The connection between the people I lived with was so loose…it would be almost impossible to even mention the word around them without being laughed at.

Yankumi smiled at me, and I forced myself to smile back. I would enjoy this unfamiliar feeling as long as I could.

"Thank you very much!" Sawada and I said with a bow as we were about to leave.

"Come over any time," Yankumi's grandfather invited cheerfully. We nodded.

"Don't be late tomorrow!" Yankumi reminded us.

"Good night," we said, and left.

"You're not going to tell Yankumi…about your parents?" Sawada asked me as we walked. It was dark out, and I shivered a little. "She'll find out sooner or later, you know," he said to my silence.

"She really cares about all of us," I said finally. "Sometimes to the point where she butts into our business. I don't want that."

"Do you really have something to hide?" he asked.

"What about you?" I shot back. "You obviously didn't tell her exactly why you live alone."

He ignored my question and we walked in silence for a while. After a while, he came to a stop in front of an apartment complex.

"I live here," he said, tilting his head toward the building. "…It's late already. Do you want to come up or should I call a taxi?"

I hesitated. I didn't want to go home alone now, not when there was no one there. But I had a feeling that going with Sawada would lead to something that I wouldn't be able to take back.

Sawada didn't wait for my answer and began to walk up the stairs. I finally decided _to hell with it_ and followed him up the stairs.

When he unlocked the door and opened it, the fuzzy feeling in my stomach from the hot meal disappeared. It was one big room, almost completely empty, an area off to the side for the kitchen, and one door leading to a small bathroom. Besides that, there was a lamp, a coat rack for clothes, a small desk, and a couch bed.

"Sorry…my room tends to suck away all positive emotions," he said as he walked in. I didn't say anything back. My room was and would do basically the same thing, but at least Sawada was here with me.

"So…" he said, turning to me. I looked at the ground, then looked up hesitantly to meet his eyes. He seemed to understand.

"You can have the couch bed," he said as he pulled extra blankets from a large suitcase in the corner.

"You sure?" I asked. He nodded. I hesitantly walked over and sat down.

The proper meal made me sleepy, and I lay back on the couch and sighed.

"I bet you live here because you wanted to get away from your parents," I said.

Sawada looked up from where he was setting up some blankets on the floor.

"Something like that…" he said.

I sighed and began to talk to fill the silence. "…I don't have parents to run away from. Not since I was 13, anyways. I caused too much trouble for my grandparents after that, so now all they do is send a check to the school every so often. The only thing I have to run away from now are the authorities, should I get caught up in another gang-related problem. Getting expelled three times for it is kind of sad…"

I then realized my slip-up. Crap.

"Gang?" Sawada asked slowly.

I swung my feet over the side of the couch so I could sit up and face him.

"Look, I understand if you don't want to associate with me anymore because of it," I said quickly, "but you can't tell anyone."

"Are you still in one?" he asked quietly. I didn't answer and he stared at me. "Why risk going to school then?"

"My parents' last wish was for me to graduate high school. I don't see it practical to go to university, but I want to fulfill at least that last wish. I can't get expelled again."

He lay flat on his back, looking straight up, not at me.

"…It doesn't matter to me," he said. "We all have to deal with our own problems. It's not for others to decide for us."

I stared at him. _What?_

"What I mean is…I can't judge you for it. Look at me. My dad's a senator, he expects so much from my sister and I without understanding or trying to understand us at all. He practically disowned me for getting expelled. So I live by myself now, where I don't have to deal with an opinion that's pushed down on me. The only thing I regret is leaving my sister there," he said before closing his eyes.

That was the most I ever heard Sawada say at once. I gripped the sheet on the couch, tears threatening to spill as I watched him sleep. He hadn't pushed me away, hadn't rejected me.

"Thank you…"

*****************

**Author's note: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what I can do to make it better. I feel like I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it is that I'm doing...so any comments would help me a lot! Thanks!**


	18. Chapter 18: Parents, Children, Siblings

**Parents, Children, Siblings, Friends**

When I woke up, I realized that I was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The events of last night jerked back into my mind when Sawada walked out of the bathroom and looked at me. I rubbed at my eyes, dry from the tears that had fallen.

"Sleep well?" he asked. I nodded slowly, lowering my eyes.

"Sorry…for causing you trouble," I said.

He shook his head. "It's nothing. Come on, we'll be late for school."

Sawada lent me one of his shirts, since it was the standard collared white shirt for both of us anyways. It was slightly oversized for me, and I could smell the musky scent of cologne. I pulled my jacket over it and we set out.

"Today's my parent-teacher conference," Sawada said as we bought something to eat from a bakery on the way.

"Mine too," I said. But it wasn't like it mattered.

"I didn't tell my parents," he said, and we dropped the conversation.

Noda, Uchi, Minami, and Kuma gave us surprised looks when we both walked in after the bell. We slid into our seats without a word.

"Hey, you guys are lucky Yankumi hasn't come yet," Minami remarked. He was looking at Sawada and me, trying to figure out what had happened.

Sawada…he wasn't any nicer or colder based on what I had told him. But the atmosphere between us was different. I didn't know how, but it was different. I had yet to determine whether that difference was good or bad.

When the time for the student-parent-teacher conference came about, I pulled Sawada aside.

"I'm not going," I said. "You know there's no point in it anyways."

He shrugged. "Up to you."

"You're going?" I asked, surprised.

"Just to tell Yankumi my parents aren't coming," he answered.

I walked out of school and headed for the café. While I was putting Sawada's shirt along with the rest of my laundry in the washing machine, my cell phone rang.

"Hello? Shun?"

"Hey Kana. Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah," I said slowly. I wondered what Shun would think if he knew that I had told Sawada about the gang. "How about you?"

"Things are fine. I should be home soon. Anything happen at school?"

"…Today was my parent-teacher conference thing," I said finally.

"Did you go?" he asked. To my silence, he sighed. "You can't hide the truth, Kana."

"I don't want pity, especially from a teacher!" I argued. "And besides, saying that my parents are dead means people will snoop in my business. I don't want that…if they do, they'll find out about you and the others."

I heard him mutter something like "that might be better for you", but I didn't quite catch it. "What?"

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, since it's over," Shun said. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"…I'm going over to Sawada's to return something right now. I should be here when you get back."

"Okay."

* * *

When I got to Sawada's, I knocked softly and he opened the door immediately.

"Here's your shirt. Thanks," I said, holding out the bag. "I washed it," I added as an afterthought.

"You didn't have to," he said, holding open the door.

Suddenly, Yankumi popped up beside Sawada, startling me. "Hi, Kana!"

"…What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised. I certainly wasn't expecting to see her…here of all places.

"You're just in time! I'm cooking! Come in, come in," she invited me, even though this clearly wasn't her house.

I glanced at Sawada, who rolled his eyes. I hesitantly walked inside. "You can cook?" I asked her curiously.

"Of course! I have to be prepared in case I get married," she answered confidently. I mentally snickered at the thought of Yankumi being someone's bride, but I kept quiet.

An awkward half hour later, there was a charcoal black mess on my plate.

"What is it?" I asked, not bothering to be polite. Who said she could cook? This was beyond failure.

"Guratan*…charcoal-broiled…ish?" she said sheepishly.

"Ish? It's charcoal!" Sawada retorted.

"Backup!" Yankumi said, whipping out some instant ramen.

Speaking of cooking, I realized that it was getting pretty late. Shun could be home any minute, and I wanted to at least have a hot meal ready for him.

"I should go…" I said as Sawada stood up to heat some water.

"Ah, Kana? You missed your conference today," Yankumi said suddenly, just as I stood up. I stopped. "I called your grandparents. They told me what happened…You should have just told me Kana. I would have understood."

Understood what? I wanted to snap at her, but I bit my lip. How much did she know? That my parents died? It wasn't her business.

"What did you come here for?" Sawada's cool voice came from the kitchen area. We both looked up at him.

"Well, I called your parents too. I talked to your mom, and she said told me that you moved out when you fought with your dad over getting expelled," Yankumi said.

"Don't stick your nose into my business," Sawada said. He glanced at me, and I gave him an I-told-you-so look. Yankumi was the type to pry into our private lives, whether we liked it or not.

"Why don't you try talking to him? It's not too late to make amends." Yankumi said.

"My dad only cares about how society sees us. He says that trash like me is a failure to the family," Sawada laughed grimly. I was stunned. Was it better to have no parents, or parents that put you down like that?

"Well…See, I don't understand those types of feelings, since my parents died over ten years ago. I feel that since one's parents are alive, it's sort of a waste to not want to live with them."

I was deep in thought. Yankumi was being so honest, yet we were so deceptive and aloof. It made me feel a little guilty…but what could I say?

"So what…did you come here just to tell me to go home?" Sawada asked dryly.

"That was my intention, but--"

Suddenly, Sawada's phone rang, cutting her off.

Sawada listened for a while, and then said, "Okay, where are you right now?...Natsumi? Natsumi!" Sawada shouted in alarm. I stared as he hung up in frustration. "She didn't answer. I have to do something."

"I'll go with you," I said. Clearly, something was up with his sister, and anything could be happening to her right now. Yankumi volunteered to come along as well.

* * *

We ran to Sawada's parents' house. I was surprised to see a policeman in front.

"I didn't tell the school, but my father's a senator," Sawada mentioned briefly as we ran up to the front door. His mother opened the door immediately. According to her, Natsumi had skipped school for three days. When Sawada's father entered the room, Sawada stormed up to him.

"How come you live with her and haven't noticed anything?!" he demanded.

"You have no right to say that to me!" his father snapped back. "Natsumi never disobeyed me or caused trouble to us. And yet, something like this happened. You must have pressured her into this!" He stood up to face Sawada. "You cause problems, get expelled. And the moment we finally think we've found the right school, you cause problems again! What did you say to her, huh?! Answer me!"

"How am I supposed to know?!" Sawada shouted, furious. He was so angry that Yankumi had to hold him back.

The entire time, I stared at this exchange between father and son. What was this? Where was the loving parent to child relationship that I was supposedly missing out on? Was Uchi and his mother an exception? I stood, frozen on the spot.

"More importantly, we should focus on finding Natsumi-chan," Yankumi urged from the side.

"We're already doing all we can," Sawada's father answered bitterly.

"Yeah, I bet you're making your lackeys do it," Sawada scoffed.

"What was that?"

"Have you yourself ever done anything for your kids?!" Sawada roared at his father.

"Don't use that tone with me!"

But Sawada was already on his way out the door. I raced after him, and Yankumi followed.

"You see now? I'm already cut off from my own family. I'm fine alone, but Natsumi doesn't need to be like me. I left home and dumped all the pressure on her…that's why this happened. She came to talk to me, and I didn't listen when I should have. If anything happens to her, it's my fault!" he rambled. It shook me when I saw how upset he was when he was usually so calm and composed.

"Don't blame yourself," Yankumi said encouragingly.

"I'm going to protect her." With that, he took off. I ran to catch up to him, leaving Yankumi behind.

"Uchi?" I said, holding my cell phone as I ran. "It's Kana. We need help finding Natsumi. Can you call the others?"

"Sure thing," he said and hung up.

We raced through the business district. Where could she be?

After what seemed like blind searching for a while, my phone rang. Noda.

"Matsuhira saw Natsumi by the West District club," he said.

"Got it. Thanks," I said, relaying the info to Sawada.

The West District…it was out of my territory. A different gang ran this area, and that club especially had some bad rumors going around about it. We ran up to the building and stopped outside of it.

"Wait," I said, grabbing Sawada's arm. "There'll be severe consequences if we're caught here…"

"Then you don't have to come," he said. I shook my head and headed in ahead of him. I couldn't stop now.

The interior of the club was dark. Alcoholic drinks lined the bar, and casino-style tables were set up, even though it was illegal to gamble. We arrived just in time to see some guys harassing Natsumi and her friends. Sawada grabbed one of the guys and threw him back. I grabbed Natsumi and pulled her to the side as the club was filled with the sounds of screaming and fighting, an all too familiar scene for me. I gritted my teeth.

"Oniichan!" Natsumi shouted.

"Come on, Sawada," I said when he had dealt with most of the guys. But when we tried to leave, others attacked him. Sawada tried to fight back, but it wasn't going too well. I grabbed some of the guys and shoved them off of Sawada's beaten body, but they kept coming and shoving me to the side.

"Police!" someone shouted frantically, and people began to scatter. Natsumi crouched by her brother with a horrified look on her face.

"Kana, get Natsu out of here," Sawada groaned.

"But…" Natsumi protested.

"Listen, don't tell anyone that you were here. Leave that to me, okay?" he said to her. "Kana, take her home."

"You…" I said, looking at him. He wasn't going to get out in time. If I tried to help him out, the cops would catch all three of us.

"I know…" he said. "Just go! Make sure she gets home safe."

I grabbed Natsumi's hand and we ran out the side exit. It wasn't my thing to abandon people, but I was honestly scared. Events in that area of town never boded well. I kicked myself mentally for not being able to help Sawada, but it was for the best…or so I tried to convince myself.

When we got to Natsumi's house, I stopped to look at her.

"I'll distract the policeman, and you run inside," I said quickly.

"Kana…my brother…"

"I'm going back for him…don't worry," I said. She suddenly hugged me, surprising me.

"Thanks, Kana," she said, her eyes glistening with tears of guilt.

"Your brother…he really cares about you, you know?" I said. She nodded.

I then proceeded to yell at the policeman in front of the house, who chased me up the street. I saw Natsumi slip inside before I turned to run back to the club as fast as I could. It began to rain.

By the time I got back, police surrounded the entire place. I ducked under the caution tape and weaved through the cars, searching for Sawada. Then I saw him, arms held behind his back and being led by two policemen.

"Is she alright?" he asked when he saw me. I nodded, out of breath and drenched. He sighed in relief and nodded at me.

"Young lady, you'll have to step away," I was instructed.

"He didn't do anything wrong!" I shouted. Another policeman held me back as Sawada was led to a police car. All around me, the sounds of protests from other club-goers under arrest filled the air.

"SHIN!" I suddenly heard people yell above the noise. I turned and saw Class 3-D and Yankumi behind the caution tape, looking anxiously at Sawada, who just turned away. Shinohara-san stood by the police car as Sawada entered it. He looked at us regretfully before getting in and driving away.

I stood in the rain in disbelief. Even as the rest of the class came to stand by my side, I felt like a failure of a friend. I looked around at those being led to police cars. None of them were the actual people behind the whole underground club operation, or the people who had attacked Sawada and his sister. This wasn't fair. I began to run, ignoring the shouts of my classmates. Adrenaline filled my body as I ran to do the only thing I could think of - hunt down the West District gang.

* * *

*_Guratan: an oven cooked dish...my favorite type is with potatoes and onions, but there are many different types. It's sort of like a Japanese-style casserole_

**Author's Note: I don't really care for the horizontal line thing, but it's the only way to keep my posts from looking like a wall of text. lol. Thanks for reading!**


	19. Chapter 19: Falling Apart

**Falling Apart**

I called Chiba. "Where are the West District gang's headquarters?" I asked, gasping for breath as I ran.

"In the basement of that old pawn shop in the West District," he answered. "Why?"

"No reason," I answered and hung up.

Yankumi had taught us not to retaliate when someone does us harm. She taught us that we would sink to our opponents level should we attack back. But Sawada was in jail. The people who should be in jail were free and couldn't care less about doing illegal things. I couldn't forgive that. They were criminals.

I called the police first and told them the location of the gang's hideout. Then I walked in.

It was a musty old place, tables cluttered with stolen cash and booze. The gang looked up in surprise, before they seemed to recognize me.

"Hey, isn't that Shun's girl?" someone commented, and the guys smirked.

"Get out of here," they said. "You're on the wrong side of town."

"I'm not Shun's girl," I shot back, pushing my wet hair out of my eyes. I looked around and saw some of the guys that had been harassing Natsumi. I narrowed my eyes at them. "The guy you fought with tonight at the club? That was my friend. He's now in jail because of you, when it should be all of you in jail, not him."

"So what?" some guy scoffed.

"So I intend to put you there," I said calmly but with my fists clenched at my sides.

The guys immediately all stood up. The leader sauntered towards me.

"Go home," he said. "Go back to your Shun. You don't belong here, girl."

I stared at him definitely, and his eyes hardened.

"You're going to regret messing with us."

He swung his fist, and I ducked. Using the momentum of his swing, I hooked a leg around his ankle and pushed him to the ground. I kept low, finding that to be my advantage as the guys aimed high in their swings. I managed to block some blows and deliver a few kicks to painful places. But there were so many of them, and there was only one of me.

5 more minutes, I thought to myself as I was shoved to the floor, repeatedly hit from all sides. 5 more minutes until the police come. I was biting my lip so hard to keep from crying out that it began to bleed.

"Not so tough now, are you?" the leader scoffed, kicking at me.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar shout, and Shun came crashing into the room, followed closely by Chiba and the others. There was a scurry of motion before the room was filled with the sounds of fists colliding with faces and the pained grunts as punches hit their marks.

Shun flung the leader aside before reaching to help me up. I staggered, trying to gain balance, as he grabbed my waist to support me.

He pulled me outside and the rest of our gang followed, just as the sirens grew near.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted at me. I winced, both from pain in my body and the harshness of his voice.

I stumbled back a little, away from him. "Sawada…he's in jail…"

"And doing this, does this make him free? Does it?" Shun demanded.

"I thought, I thought that if…" I broke off, my voice catching in my throat. What did I think? Had it been worth it? I looked around wide-eyed, looking at the other members of my group who were catching their breaths, cradling bleeding fists, staring at me in disbelief.

"I don't care what happens to other people. But this is you, Kana. You think you can handle everything but you can't. Not only did you endanger yourself, you got us involved. Don't you know what this could lead to?"

I stared at the ground, trembling. I knew. I knew, and yet I acted without thinking. If the two gangs now clashed in an unending feud, it'd be my fault.

"Then you shouldn't have come to help me." The words spilled out of my mouth faster than I could think. My brain was in a muddled mess already, and my emotions couldn't be concealed any longer.

The force of Shun's hand hitting my cheek knocked me to the ground. I lay on the ground, trying to hold myself together. The falling rain and the pain in my body made me numb to everything but the overwhelming feeling of disappointment and failure.

After a while, Shun and the others walked away, and I knew what that meant. I shouldn't even bother thinking about returning home tonight. I stifled a sob and dragged myself up off the ground, shivering in the wet cold.

* * *

I walked aimlessly, not knowing what to do with myself. I brought my hand to my mouth, only to discover that the rain was now mixing with my blood and tears.

I heard running footsteps but didn't look up in time to see the person headed straight towards me. We were both knocked to the ground, and I groaned painfully, not knowing if I could get up again.

"Oh crap! Are you okay?" the person asked.

Huh? I knew that voice.

"Noda?" I whispered.

"Kana? What are you doing here…" I heard him cut himself off with a gasp. He grabbed my arm, helping me up. "What happened to you? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

I shook my head vigorously. No hospitals. I hated them.

"But…but you…what should I do, what should I do? The closest place is…Uchi!" I heard him mumble to himself as he led me to a nearby bench. I heard him calling a number, asking Uchi for help.

Uchi came running a few moments later. Noda had been holding his jacket over me to shield off some of the rain, which was falling less steadily now.

Uchi stared at me, taking in my condition. He cursed under his breath before reaching to help me up.

"I'm taking you to my place," he said, pulling me along as Noda followed closely beside me.

I could walk, given that I walked slowly, but my arms felt like they would fall off any moment, and my face felt as though it had been stepped on. But I knew I deserved everything I got, especially Shun's hit.

Uchi's house was really small, but I could feel the warmth emanating from it. He led me inside, grabbed a towel from a drawer and pushed me into the bathroom, instructing me to take a shower after making sure I could do it myself and that I wasn't bleeding profusely anywhere.

I stood in the shower, welcoming the warm onslaught of water hitting my sore body. I heard Uchi say from the other side of the bathroom door that Noda had bought some clothes for me and they were just outside the bathroom door.

After changing into the new clothes, which were a little different from my usual style, I trudged out. My hair was dry, I was clean, warm and refreshed, but I felt so empty inside.

"Kana…" Uchi said softly as I stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Both he and Noda looked at me concernedly.

"Hey, I think I should go. It's getting late," Noda said. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was a little past midnight.

"Thanks, Noda," I said with as much gratitude I could show.

He shook his head. "Take care, Kana. See you tomorrow, Uchi."

"Here," Uchi said after Noda left, making me sit at the kitchen table. He awkwardly placed a mug of hot tea in my hands. I drank silently, knowing that I wouldn't be able to say much without breaking down again.

"My mom's on a business trip," Uchi said as he bustled around the kitchen, looking for something. "Ah, found it." He pulled out a first aid kit from one of the top cabinets.

After I finished my tea, he took me to his room and had me sit on his bed. He applied medication and bandages to my various cuts and applied ice to various places that were particularly swollen.

"You're so gentle," I said softly.

He flushed slightly. "My mom always does it for me when I get into fights and stuff…" He trailed off, realizing that he hadn't asked what had happened to me yet.

I looked away, not wanting to say anything.

"Kana," he said firmly, putting the medication and ice to the side, "you have to tell me."

"I…I can't…" I said slowly.

Suddenly, I felt Uchi lean forward and he pressed his lips softly against mine. I froze, not expecting this sudden kiss.

I pulled away, confused and pained. "Uchi…no…we can't…"

He sat back and I could see the disappointment in his eyes. "If we can't be more than friends, then at least trust me like we are friends. You're keeping things from me…"

"Uchi…"

"I'm not blind. I know a guy's shirt when I see one. I saw the way you walked into school together in the morning, the way Shin looked at you during class, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knows something about you I don't."

I fell silent, dumbfounded. Uchi was much more observant than I expected. I detected some bitterness in his voice, and I knew I had been neglecting him, neglecting his feelings.

"Why can't you trust me? I thought we were best friends," he said frustrated.

I stared at the pain in his eyes, but I also saw compassion and the willingness to accept. I couldn't keep it from him any longer. I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palm.

"Shun…Kanzaki Shun…" I finally choked out, tears forming in my eyes.

Uchi immediately tensed at the name. Shun's name was pretty known throughout the town, not as someone who caused trouble but as someone not to mess with.

"He did this to you?" he asked in disbelief.

I shook my head. Uchi shook me, forcing my head up to meet his gaze.

"Is he bothering you then? What about him?" Uchi asked urgently.

"I…I live with him…He's my boss…" I whispered.

I saw a mixture of emotions in his eyes.

"You're kidding right? There's no way…" He trailed off into silence when he saw my tears. "Oh, hell no…What about your parents? You told me that-"

"They're dead, Uchi. They're dead."

The stunned silence was deafening.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, pulling myself away from him. But he sat up on the bed, wrapping his arms around me.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked hoarsely.

I leaned silently against his shoulder, closing my eyes. Why hadn't I?

Because I was scared. And I had every right to be.

"…Don't tell…" I said softly. He nodded.

"I won't."

I began to explain things to him. How I had become defiant ever since my parents died, feeling that it was unfair that I was the only one suffering. How I had run away from my grandparents' home after getting expelled the first time. How Shun had somehow appeared and had protected me when I ran into a group of unruly guys.

"He's not what the rumors say, you know? He…he wanted us to be a group of people that couldn't be held guilty of crimes. He organized all of us to have local jobs, and we work for our money. We don't steal, we don't do drugs, we don't intimidate to get what we want…But he doesn't tolerate any weakness…Right now, I'm the group's weakness…"

"…I don't understand," Uchi said.

"I'm the one who gets in trouble, gets us in trouble. I act without thinking, attacking people the moment they upset me. Then I get the entire gang involved because I'm not strong enough to get myself out of the mess. I feel like I have to do things myself, but I never end up being enough. That gang…they're all in jail now. But I couldn't put them there myself. I would have just gone with them if Shun hadn't come. And what did I do for Sawada? Nothing."

Uchi patted my head awkwardly as I spewed my frustration and anguish into his knowledge. He seemed more stunned by what he had just learned than uneasy, as I thought he'd be.

"All that for Shin, huh?" he mused. "Don't worry, Kana. We've got your back," he said after a pause. "I can't guarantee we can do anything about…your situation, but we'll back you up. Or I will, at least."

I could hear the slight apprehension in his voice as he said this and I smiled. He was trying to be brave for me.

"That means a lot to me, Uchi."

* * *

I awoke after a few hours of sleep with an immense pain and soreness in my body. I was lucky that I hadn't broken anything. I had probably pulled a muscle in my leg, but for the most part, it just hurt to move. Sadly, I realized that I was somewhat used to it.

Uchi and I didn't really talk about what had happened the night before. Or in the early morning, to be more precise. I wasn't sure how to talk to him without feeling self-conscious, especially about the kiss.

When Uchi and I got to school, there was a notice at the front of the school.

Sawada Shin will be expelled.

"Kana, what happened to your face?" Minami asked in shock when Uchi helped me walk into the class where he and Noda and Kuma stood in staring at the board silence.

"I um…ran into some drunk guys and yeah…"

That was the story Uchi had helped me to come up with. Noda raised an eyebrow at me, knowing that I was lying, but the other two seemed to buy it.

"You need to be careful," Minami said, exclaiming over my bruises. I nodded, pulling my sleeves lower so that they wouldn't see the cuts on my knuckles.

We sat silently in class. Although Sawada hadn't admitted to anything, the fact that he was found in such a place didn't give him much credit. As long as he stayed silent about going to rescue Natsumi, he would be expelled for sure.

I kept seeing Sawada in my mind. He had been such a silent small part of my life, and yet without him, there was an even more deafening silence.

"Shin didn't even do anything!" Kuma protested suddenly.

"I wonder if there's anything we can do," Noda sighed.

"Dammit!" Uchi shouted, throwing a football to the ground.

I was miserable. Sawada had done so much for me. He had listened, kept my secrets, accepted me without any further questioning. And I had tried and failed to do something for him in return.

We found out later that Sawada wasn't allowed to leave the police station until his father came to pick him up. Naturally, his father refused to.

"Then let's go ask Shin's father to do it," Uchi said quietly. "All of us."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry this update took so long. Thanks for being patient & for reading and commenting.**


	20. Chapter 20: Going Home

_Previously: Shin gets arrested for being in an illegal club. Kana gets pissed and attacks the gang that's responsible for the club, only to be pulled out by her own gang. Uchi takes her in for the night and kisses her, complicating their friendship. Class 3-D decides to go and ask Shin's father to bail him out of jail._

* * *

**Going Home**

When we got there, the policeman in front of Sawada's house tried to keep us from the front door. Suddenly, the door opened and Sawada's father, mother, sister, and to our surprise, Yankumi, stepped out to see what was going on.

"You guys…" Yankumi said. She had been gone the entire day, rumored to have gone to see Sawada at the police station. But now she was here, which only could mean that she had been asking Sawada's father to go pick him up from the police station.

"Please go pick up Shin," Uchi said, stepping forward. "Onegaishimasu*!"

"Onegaishimasu!" we all chorused and bowed our heads.

Yankumi walked over to stand in front of us. She then turned to Sawada's father.

"Please go pick Sawada up. Onegaishimasu!"

He stared at us for a long time.

"Otousan*," Natsumi pleaded.

He gave a long sigh before telling the policeman to ready his car.

* * *

At the police station, we waited patiently outside until Sawada's father had completed all the paperwork. I felt warm inside from the anticipation and eagerness of the class, as if they had done all this for me.

We watched as Sawada walked slowly out, staring in disbelief at his father who gave him an unreadable look before getting in his car and driving away. I smiled slightly. Despite their differences, perhaps they could work things out. They were father and son, after all.

"Sawada," Yankumi called to him, and he turned in surprise.

"Yo, Shin," Uchi said brightly.

"Shin-chan!" Minami teased.

"We waited forever, man," Noda said as Kuma saluted him.

"You're always trying to do everything yourself," Yankumi said. "When things get tough, you can at least rely on your teacher and your friends. You have friends who will search for you and your sister all night. You have friends who will bow their heads to your father to come pick you up. You can show them your weakness. They're ready to stick by you. Right?"

Yankumi's words resonated within me. Yes, these guys were my friends. Though I didn't expect them to understand everything, it wasn't fair of me to hide things either. I looked up at Uchi briefly, before turning back to Yankumi and Sawada.

The guys all beamed as Sawada looked at us, and it made me smile. I could see him tearing up a little.

"Sorry for inconveniencing you guys," he said.

"Ah stupid. Don't say things like that," Uchi said, shoving him lightly.

"We're not inconvenienced at all!" Minami agreed.

"Shin," I said softly, saying his name for the first time. It was a little strange, after calling him Sawada for so long, but it was a step forward. He looked up.

"Kana-" he began to say, eyes widening as he looked carefully at my face.

I shook my head quickly and stepped aside to reveal Natsumi, who was standing behind me.

"Gomenasai*, Oniichan," she said tearfully as she apologized.

"Baka," he said, touching her head affectionately. They both smiled at each other.

"Oh yeah. If you're late tomorrow, Sawada, you get toilet cleaning duty," Yankumi said.

"But…"

"You're not expelled. Rescuing someone isn't a bad thing," she explained. "Shinohara-san talked to Sawatari Kyoutou for you."

We all looked up at Shinohara-san, who smiled before walking back inside the police station. He was a really good person. Perhaps it was wrong of me to judge him just because he was a policeman.

"Until you graduate, I'm your teacher," Yankumi said. "Come on guys. Let's go."

Noda let out a whoop and led the way.

"Hey Kana," Shin – no longer Sawada to me – started as we walked side by side, looking at me worriedly. "What happened to you?"

"Don't worry about it," I said. "Really. I was just being kind of careless."

"Yup, everything's fine," Uchi said, nudging me in the shoulder from the other side.

"If you say so…" Shin said. I knew he didn't believe me. "It's not related to what happened the other night, is it?"

"Of course not!" I said, trying not to sound too obvious. "Those people were caught, remember?"

"Ah, Kana-san," Natsumi suddenly said from the side. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Kana is fine," I said, glad that she changed the subject. "Sure."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

The guys all stopped to look at me.

"…Why do you ask?" I said finally.

"Because if you don't, I know a lot of nice guys who would be interested in you. You're really nice. I'm surprised that none of your classmates have asked you out."

I shrugged off the teasing from the guys, not knowing what to say. I had more important things to do than get a boyfriend. And I wouldn't know what Shun would say to that.

Shun…

I still hadn't had any contact with him since the night before.

I pulled Uchi aside while everyone continued to walk. We hadn't really talked, and I found it hard to meet his gaze.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you," I started.

"You're not staying anymore?" he asked in surprise.

I shook my head. "I need to go back…they'll be wondering where I am."

"…Do you want me to come too?"

I finally looked up at him and saw the concern in his eyes. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think that's a good idea…because they don't know you," I continued hurriedly when I saw the hurt in his eyes. The hope I had for our friendship began to wane. What would happen to us?

He nodded, tentative. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I hope so."

* * *

When I walked back to the café, it was already starting to become dark. As I neared it, I realized that only a single light was on in the café, and that it was closed.

I opened the door to find Chiba sitting at the counter. He scowled at me.

"Aw, the kitty decided to come crawling back to her master. Pathetic," he spat.

I bowed my head. "I'm sorry."

He sat up and sighed. "Shun made us search for you all night you know, wouldn't let us sleep, until that guy in your class came to tell us where you are."

I looked up. What?

"What was his name? Nobu…Noda? Yeah. Noda. That guy. He seemed so nervous when he saw all of us glaring at him, but he told us you were at some guy's house. Uchi or something."

I stared at Chiba. Noda had come all the way to tell them that?

"You really keep us on our toes," Chiba growled at me. "And that's not a good thing. You're all Shun cares about sometimes, and it annoys the heck out of us."

"Where is he?" I asked, brushing past him. Chiba grabbed my arm, as if about to tell me something, but he seemed to change his mind and let go.

"In the back," was all he said as he left.

I walked to my room, then to his room and couldn't find him. I finally turned to the workout room and had to grab the door frame to keep from falling. Shun sat with his back against the wall, his knees pulled to his chest. In his right hand, he held a pistol, and he was slowly raising it to his head.

With a cry, I ran forward and knocked the pistol out of his hands. Shun stared up at me in shock, which gradually wore down to a look of anxiety. I stared at him in disbelief. The pistol was on the floor, the shiny black gleam seemingly mocking me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice low and empty.

"I'm sorry Shun, I'm really sorry," I said over and over, as no other words came to mind. I couldn't stop trembling or stop the tears from coming. "But…what are you doing?"

Shun passed a weary hand over his eyes.

"I'm such a failure. I can't even lead this group properly. Heck, I can't even protect you anymore, Kana. There will be a time when I won't be there fast enough, and I don't want to live to see that day."

"So you'll kill yourself first?" I demanded, shaking his shoulders. "Then what will happen to me? The others don't care about me! Are you going to just leave me alone like this?"

"Kana, I can't take do this anymore!"

"Then don't! I'll take responsibility for my own actions! But I don't want you to leave me!"

"Kana…"

He stared at me, and I stared back. Suddenly, tears began to appear in his eyes.

"Why am I so weak?" he muttered to himself, rubbing at his eyes.

I leaned forward and buried my head in his shoulder. He tentatively wrapped his arms around me before tightening his hold.

It was so different for both of us, and in a sense, it was scary to see Shun, who had always been the strongest person I knew, break down like this before my eyes, but at the same time, it was reassurance to me that I was not the only one hiding weaknesses.

It sometimes scared me to be around certain people, especially when I never knew what could happen when I was around them, but I realized that at the same time, it would be scarier to lose them.

I would rather be hurt than be alone.

* * *

"Morning."

"Morning, Shun."

"Have a good day at school."

"Thanks."

As far as I could tell, things were back to normal. Hopefully it would last.

* * *

In class, we had planned a surprise party for Shin's return. We all waited during homeroom in the classroom for him to show up.

When Yankumi led him in, we all jumped up and threw party poppers and confetti everywhere. I smiled as Shin got picked up by his classmates and was paraded around the class. He was laughing, truly enjoying himself.

"You should smile like that more often!" Yankumi shouted.

"Shut up!" he retorted but continued to grin.

As I watched him, I realized how much of a significant part Shin was beginning to play in my life. If it wasn't for him and his friends, I wouldn't be where I was. I was still lost, but finally, I was beginning to see myself for who I was, not who everyone else labeled me to be. Of course, I owed a lot to Yankumi for that to, but it was these guys who were willing to put up with me that impacted me most.

"You're not going to tell him?" Uchi asked me softly. I looked up at him.

"No," I answered. "He doesn't need to know."

"I think you should tell him," Uchi said before getting up to join the party.

And Uchi. As far as I could tell, nothing in particular would happen between us. He seemed to get it, my reluctance to even acknowledge his feelings went back to the gang and the dangers it held for me and all that I associated with. But that wasn't to say that the kiss was tempting…it made me feel wanted. It had been a long time since that had happened. But I knew I couldn't do that to Uchi. Uchi was so good to me, too good to me even, and I didn't want to be the person to receive that goodness when I wouldn't be able to give it back.

But I wanted to repay them somehow, all of them. Sawada, Uchi, Noda, Kuma, Minami, Yankumi...It would take me a while to see how.

* * *

_*Onegaishimasu: Please (polite form)_  
_*Otousan: Father_  
_*Gomenasai: I'm sorry_

**Author's Note: Sorry for the VERY long wait. I was in Asia pretty much all summer, and I've finally come back, only to have classes starting back up next week. I really appreciate the patience and the many comments encouraging me to continue. Thank you!**


	21. Chapter 21: Meeting Yuuta

**Meeting Yuuta**

"Hey Shun, I'm going to school now. See you later," I called.

Shun came up to the doorway. "Yeah…hey, Kana? I love you, Kid."

I turned back around quickly. "What?"

Shun looked sort of nervous, sort of embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing."

I stared at him in silence. For one, he used Kid, the nickname he had given me when he had first picked me up off the streets. And love? I thought it was a word never to be mentioned within our group. Something's up, I thought as I stared at him suspiciously.

Shun seemed to take my silence the wrong way. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm not…you know…going to hurt myself or anything. It's just…yeah. You're loved."

"Uh…thanks, I guess," I said awkwardly before turning and walking out the door.

I thought about what Shun said, and his response to my surprised reaction. He had thought I was suspecting him of trying to kill himself again…I shook my head, clearing those thoughts. I didn't want to think about it.

But really, what triggered him to say that to me? I knew that he didn't mean it in a romantic way. That was for sure, and I had no doubt about it. Then what _did_ he mean?

I didn't even realize that I was standing in front of the 3-D classroom until Uchi grabbed my arm from behind.

"Hey Kana! Shin's telling scary stories inside! Come on, let's go in!" he said, pulling me inside before I could say anything.

The classroom was completely dark save for the glow of the candles around the room. Someone had pulled a curtain over the windows so that no sunlight could get in.

"Hey Uchi, hey Kana!" Minami called and scooted over to make room for us. I looked around and wondered what had brought this around as I sat between Uchi and Noda.

I looked over at Sawada, who I now called Shin like the others, sitting in the middle. He gave me a small smile. A week had passed since the incident with his father and sister, and he seemed to be doing pretty well since then. We hadn't really talked, since the others were always around.

"Alright, everyone's here," Noda reported. "We've got five minutes before homeroom."

Shin continued. "Of the seven strange happenings at Shirokin High, this is the third," he began, and I settled in my seat, leaning against Uchi a little bit.

"A little over ten years ago, a student committed suicide in the second story bathroom. They say that his ghost still haunts the bathroom. An upperclassman heard this story and believing it to be just a rumor, laughed it off. But one day, as he was washing his hands in that bathroom, he happened to look in the mirror…and there he saw…"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a very obvious Yankumi screamed beside Shin, causing all of us to jump. Some of the guys began to scream in response.

"Shut up," Shin said briskly, and she stopped. We all stared at her in silence.

"You guys!" she scolded shrilly. "Turn on the light! Take off these curtains!"

"We were just getting to the best part!" Noda shouted at her.

"Yeah, don't ruin it!" Kuma agreed.

"I leave you alone for a little bit, and look what happens. Telling ghost stories during homeroom, how ridiculous," she said in a rush, heading for the door. I smirked, hearing the fear in her voice. So maybe even Yankumi wasn't invincible…

"Get ready for class," she instructed, and quickly left the room.

The guys groaned as we tried to put the room back to the mess it was before.

Sawada blew out the candles as Minami pulled off the curtains and stuffed them in a corner. I leaned back in my seat and began to think about Shun once more. It was really bothering me for some reason.

"Hey, you look almost completely healed," Shin said suddenly, sliding into his seat.

"Yeah," I said, casually tracing a part of my cheek under my eye where I knew a scar was left.

"Are…that…are you really okay?" he asked me quietly. "I've seen the bruises on your arms…thought maybe that…"

"It's fine. I'm okay," I insisted, pulling out a textbook from my bag. I knew that he was looking at me with worried eyes, though the rest of his face wouldn't show anything. I turned instead to the other side and saw Uchi looking at me. He gave me a questioning look. I smiled and shook my head.

"Haha. Ghosts in the bathroom? So not true," Minami was laughing. I leaned forward.

"You never know," I said casually. They looked at me.

"You believe in ghosts?" Noda asked incredulously.

"No," I answered, and we all laughed. Ghosts? Of course not.

* * *

During our last period, the door suddenly burst open and a short cute kid ran into our classroom and hid behind Kuma. We all looked at each other questioningly before we heard Sawatari's loud voice coming near. It was an unspoken agreement to act completely normal, innocent, and oblivious whenever he came in. I tried not to look over to where Kuma sat…but who was the kid?

"Where'd the kid go?" Sawatari demanded.

"Huh? Kid?" Noda said.

"He's not here," Shin said in a bored tone.

"Maybe you saw a ghost," Minami suggested, and I jabbed a finger at his side, trying not to laugh.

"I know what I saw," Sawatari grumbled and began to scan among our desks. He stopped in front of Kuma and quickly looked around him. He leaned forward and snatched the kid from his hiding place and we all watched in bewilderment as the kid struggled against Sawatari's firm hold. I was tempted to cover my ears as the kid shouted and kicked at our vice principal in a vicious manner.

Yankumi, Fujiyama-sensei, and Kawashima-sensei, our school nurse, suddenly ran into the room. The kid looked up and a smile broke across his face.

"Mama!" he shouted, breaking free from Sawatari and running toward the three women. We all stared, since we believed all of them to be single and of course childless.

The kid ran into Kawashima-sensei's arms, and she looked down at him in surprise.

"Yuuta!" she exclaimed, hugging him.

"Kawashima-sensei, you're a…" Yankumi started.

"MOM?" the class finished, yelling in shock.

* * *

It turns out that Kawashima-sensei's husband passed away last year, and Yuuta had been sent to her in-laws to be taken care of. He had come all the way to see her, since they apparently did not see each other often.

However, Kawashima-sensei had a conference to go to that she couldn't miss, so she asked Yankumi to take care of Yuuta for a night while she was gone. Yankumi agreed, but worried about the nature of her household, pulled Shin and I aside.

"Can you guys come too, so you know…things won't get out of hand?" she begged us.

"Sure," Shin said before I could say anything. "Right, Kana?"

"Let me make a phone call first," I said, shooting a look at Shin. Since when did he make decisions for me? He stared back at me, as if to challenge me.

I called Shun and asked if I could come home late, since I would be helping a teacher out.

"Sure," he said, "though I would have never thought that you would be helping a teacher…"

"Thanks, Shun," I said. Ever since the "incident" between us that one night, Shun had become more flexible with me. In a way, I guess he wanted to show that he was trying to change and that he would be less controlling of me. I still felt bad about ditching out on work.

So Shin and I ended up at Yankumi's once more. Yuuta, contrary to the first impression we got of him, was a sweet, good-natured, and observant little kid. While Shin and I sat with Yuuta as he ate a snack, Yankumi warned her clan members not to act like they usually did so they wouldn't blow her cover. After all, kids reported pretty much everything to their parents, according to her.

When Yankumi instructed them to go play with Yuuta, they brought out Mahjong tiles.

"Hey! You can't play that with a kid!" Yankumi shouted at them.

"But we thought it'd be good character practice," Wakamatsu protested and I stifled a laugh.

"How about playing cards?" Shin suggested. Yankumi nodded at his suggestion.

"How about these?" Testu asked, whipping out Hanafuda* cards.

"Totally different!" Yankumi said to him.

"How about singing?" Minoru suggested, and for once, everyone jumped at his suggestion. He went to retrieve an old tape recorder and pushed play. With microphone in hand, he began to bellow out an old traditional enka* song. Yuuta, not knowing any better, looked impressed and began to clap.

Yankumi looked distressed. "Sawada, take Minoru's place," she said.

"No way," Shin replied.

"At least make him stop," she pleaded.

"That might be even harder," I said, as Minoru took his singing to a whole new level with exaggerated hand movements and vibrato in his voice. The three of us winced, even though Yuuta continued to clap. It would be a long afternoon.

* * *

Finally, it was dinnertime. We had managed to get by until then without Yuuta becoming extremely bored.

"Itadakimasu*!" we all said before beginning to eat. The main course was fish.

"Eat up," Yankumi's grandfather said to Yuuta, who looked displeased.

"I don't like fish," he said.

Tetsu jumped up. "Don't be picky!" he shouted.

"Tetsu-san," Shin said firmly.

"Sorry," he replied and sat down.

Yuuta took a bite and made a face.

"It's not tasty," he complained.

"What was that?" Minoru shouted, standing up.

"Minoru-san," I said, and he bowed in apology, sitting back down. Shin shot me a smirk. This was way too funny.

"I don't want it," Yuuta said, getting up.

"SIT BACK DOWN!" Yankumi shouted. "You are to eat what you are served and appreciate it!"

"Yankumi," Shin and I said simultaneously. It seemed to jerk her out of her anger and she realized that she had just lost it at a kid.

"Yuuta-kun, let's sit and eat, okay?" she said sweetly, her voice completely changing. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"Okay," Yuuta agreed and sat down. He ate some fish. "This is good," he said and continued to eat.

"Good boy," Yankumi said, ruffling his hair.

* * *

Later, Yuuta, Tetsu, and Minoru fell asleep in the main room, exhausted from play wrestling.

"Sleeping in a place like this," Yankumi murmured, putting a blanket on top of them. "Kids are so hard to take care of."

"As I recall, you were a lot harder to manage when you came here 16 years ago," her grandfather said. "Spoiled and ruthless…"

"Grandpa, don't say that in front of Sawada and Kana!" she protested.

"Why not?" Shin said, and we grinned. Yankumi must have been a one-of-a-kind kid.

"The clan was in chaos trying to meet this child's needs," her grandfather laughed. "But at the same time, this household became full of laughter since she arrived. Kumiko, you taught me that the more you spend time managing something, the more happiness you earn in the end."

Yankumi ducked her head in embarrassment. I smiled. This was what family was all about, wasn't it?

Shin walked me partway home after we left Yankumi's around eight at night.

"You seem to like kids," I said as we walked through the dark streets.

"Yeah, I guess," he said. "If they're good and cute."

"So what…do you want your own kids in the future?" I asked. Might as well ask, since we were on the topic.

"Sure," he said. "You?"

I laughed out loud. Me, a mom? I didn't even have a family; how could one expect me to raise one?

"I don't think I'd be a good parent," I said.

"You never know," Shin said with a somewhat of a teasing smile.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I said, stopping. We were at about the midpoint between our houses.

"Hey," he said, catching my arm. I looked at him questioningly as he seemed to search my eyes. "Are you really okay?"

I let out a small laugh. "How many times do I have to tell you? I can take care of myself. Don't worry, okay?"

"Yeah," he said, sounding unconvinced. It seemed like he would say something else but he stopped. "Smile more often," he said instead. "You seem happier that way." With that, he turned and walked into the darkness.

I shook my head in amusement before turning and walking towards the café.

* * *

_*Hanafuda: Japanese traditional playing cards_  
_*enka: traditional Japanese singing_  
_*Itadakimasu: a phrase said before eating a meal; roughly translates to "i receive this meal"_

**Author's Note: So, definitely a lighter, happier episode. lol. Thanks for all your comments. I did have a lot of fun in Asia. :] And as for the relationship between Kana & Shin...you'll just have to find out. ;) Classes started today so it might take me a while to update – and I might start a new story too, but I'm not dropping this one! – so I really appreciate your patience and encouraging comments.**


	22. Chapter 22: Family

**Hey! It's been a long while and I apologize for the wait. I wrapped up the rest of Yuuta's episode in one post. :)  
Previously: Kawashima-sensei's son Yuuta comes to visit, and Yankumi's put in charge of him for the night, so Kana & Shin go over to her house to help her "babysit". This chapter kicks off with the next morning. **

**

* * *

**

**Family**

When homeroom began the next day, I was surprised to see Yuuta walk in behind Yankumi.

"Since Kawashima-sensei will be returning from her conference at noon, Yuuta will spend the morning with us. Hey, you guys need to be a good example, okay? Kids copy everything adults do."

The class began to murmur their dissent.

"Yuuta, your seat is in the back, between Sawada and Kana," Yankumi told him.

"Okay," he said cutely and walked to the back. The guys all stared at him as he walked by.

"Hi Shin, Hi Kana," he said with a wave.

"Yo," Shin said, waving back. I patted his head.

"Hey, since when did you guys get to know him so well?" Uchi asked.

"It's a secret, right?" Shin said to Yuuta, who nodded.

"Alright, let's start class," Yankumi said. The class began to chatter loudly and do their own thing, like usual, until she cleared her throat. Everyone stopped and turned to look at Yuuta, who stared at them with wide eyes. The class groaned but pulled out their textbooks nonetheless and looked up at the board.

"Hey, this is actually like school," Yankumi said happily.

"This is school," Shin muttered. Yuuta looked up at him curiously.

"Don't mind him. He's just a grumpy guy," I said to Yuuta, who grinned. Shin socked me in the arm.

Later on, all of the guys signed their names and drew pictures on a paper pyramid, which they gave to Yuuta.

"Arigatou!" he said, and they all patted his head and poked his cheek fondly.

'Future fathers,' I thought to myself with a grin, watching them show their affection.

When Fujiyama-sensei began her English class by saying "Good Morning," the guys all eagerly repeated it back. But when she said "How are you?" the guys were stumped.

"I'm fine, thank you. And you?" Yuuta suddenly said in clear English from his seat in the front.

"Very good!" Fujiyama-sensei complimented, and the guys all cheered him on.

During passing period, I walked past the guys' restroom and saw some 3-D guys stumble out, all wet.

"What happened?" I asked. They all pointed at Yuuta, who looked at me innocently. I laughed, and tipped his cap upwards.

During lunch break, we played "Daruma-san ga Koronda*", where Yuuta was "it" and Shin and I sat by him to help him out. 3-D had especially exaggerated poses that made us all laugh.

"Kuma," Shin said, noticing Kuma shaking under the weight of Noda, who had jumped on his back.

"Kuma's out!" Yuuta said laughing. Kuma groaned.

Yuuta gave Shin and I the "peace" sign. It was awkward signing it back to him since it reminded me of the last photo I had taken with my parents.

"Kana, why do you have a cut on your face?" Yuuta asked me suddenly. Shin straightened up to hear my answer.

"I fell down," I said simply.

"I fall down all the time, but I usually only get scraped on my knees and hands," he said. "You don't have any in those places."

Whoa. What a persistent kid. What was I supposed to say, I fell on my face?

Luckily, Kawashima-sensei came at that moment.

"Mama!" Yuuta said, running up and hugging her.

"Were you a good boy? Did you have fun?" she asked him.

"Yeah! All of these big kids played with me!" he informed her.

"Thank you," she said to us.

"No problem," the guys told her.

"Hey Yuuta, can you do a back flip on the flip bars* yet?" she asked him. He shook his head sadly.

"Aww, you'll be able to do it, Yuuta," Yankumi said to him.

"Yeah, don't give up!"

"It took me forever!"

With our encouragement, Yuuta brightened up.

Suddenly, Sawatari, along with Waseda-sensei and Fujiyama-sensei, walked in.

'Kawashima-sensei, your in-laws are here for Yuuta," Sawatari said.

"Apparently, Yuuta-kun left without telling them," Fujiyama-sensei said.

"Yuuta, did you come without telling your grandparents?" Kawashima-sensei asked him. He hung his head. "Why did you do that? Mom hates liars," she said sharply.

"You don't have to be so harsh," Uchi said.

"Yeah, he came to see you," Kuma added.

She ignored the class's voices of disagreement and pulled Yuuta's hand. "You're going home with your grandparents," she said.

"Already? You haven't seen him in so long," Shin spoke up.

"At least spend today with him," Yankumi suggested, but Kawashima-sensei got up and pulled Yuuta out of the classroom.

"What the heck was that?" Minami muttered. The class sat staring at Yuuta's paper pyramid in silent frustration.

"That's the worst kind of parent," Noda said.

I didn't know what to think. Sure, Yuuta was in the wrong for lying, but hadn't he come to find his mom for all the right reasons?

* * *

About 15 minutes later, Kawashima-sensei returned to our class to thank us and to get her bag.

"I feel sorry for him," Uchi said in a low tone just as she was about to leave. "The feeling he had when he came, the feeling he has now having to leave…do you understand that?"

"I understand," she said.

"Then why did you let him go like that?" Kuma demanded.

"That's so sad," the class murmured in agreement.

"What kind of mother are you?"

"Why can't you live with him?" Fujiyama-sensei asked, coming into the room with Yankumi.

"Don't say that like it's easy," she snapped.

"What's so hard about it?" Minami asked, standing up.

"Yeah, mothers and their children are supposed to live together," Noda said.

I sat up, about to tell them to stop. There had to be a reason.

"What do you guys know?" Kawashima-sensei said bitterly.

"We don't know. Why a mother would neglect her child, of course we don't know!" Uchi shouted.

"That boy isn't my son!" Kawashima-sensei burst out, and the class hushed. "He was born between my husband and his previous wife, but Yuuta thinks I'm his real mother because I've lived with him and his dad since he was one. Then last year my husband passed away…That boy and I are not even blood related!" With that, she fled the room and Yankumi ran after her.

The class became silent with ill tension. I saw that adults sometimes suffered as much as we did. And it hurt to know that.

* * *

A little while later, Noda burst into the room.

"Yuuta's missing!" he shouted. The class erupted into chaos.

"He doesn't want to go home," Uchi mused.

"He probably wanted to see Kawashima-sensei…" Kuma said.

Shin stood up. "Hey, we're going to go look for him."

The class got up and ran out of the classroom. We passed Sawatari Kyoutou on the way, but he did nothing to stop us. He probably thought that since 3-D was no good in school anyways, might as well have us help look for Yuuta.

We broke up into groups of six or seven and went different directions. We looked practically everywhere. It seems like we glanced at every little kid that walked by us, just to make sure. Where could he be? No matter where we looked, we couldn't find him.

Hours later, we were exhausted from running around so much. It was already dark, making it harder to see the people around us.

Shin's phone suddenly rang. It was Yankumi. He listened for a while before starting to run and we followed him.

"Yankumi found him. He has a few injuries from running into a cyclist, so they're at the hospital," he informed us as we ran. Noda began to call everyone as we went.

* * *

When we arrived at the hospital, I hesitated at the entrance.

"You guys go ahead first," I said, and they did so. I stared up at the building. This was where I had last seen my parents, lying dead on the surgical tables. This place held bad memories for me, and I couldn't bring myself to walk inside.

Suddenly, I saw Kawashima-sensei and Fujiyama-sensei run up. Kawashima-sensei stopped, then looked at Fujiyama-sensei.

"I don't think it's necessary for me to go in," she said. "Will you take care of the rest for me?"

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and began to walk away.

I was stunned. How could she do that? Maybe they weren't blood related, but they had lived together for most of Yuuta's life. She couldn't abandon him now…

I walked after her. "Kawashima-sensei…isn't Yuuta part of your family? Can you just leave him?"

She stopped to look at me. "Kana-chan, he's not…"

Suddenly, Yankumi came running up to us.

"Do you know where I found him?" she asked Kawashima-sensei. "I found him at the park, because you promised him that he can come see you when he's able to do a back flip on the flip bars. He was practicing, even though he got hurt, because he cares that much about you."

"It's all my fault," Kawashima-sensei said. "I shouldn't have promised him that…it's better if I don't see him. It's the best for him. If he one day finds out that I'm not his real mother, he'll be hurt so much more than he is now."

Yankumi spoke up. "He knows. He knows you're not the woman that gave birth to him. Even so, he still calls you Mom. Blood relation doesn't matter. If you live together, eat together, breathe the same air, cry and laugh together, isn't that family?"

"But I don't have the right to be a mother…"

"You still don't understand?" Yankumi shouted at her. "It doesn't matter if you didn't give birth to him. You still fed him, clothed him, took care of him when he was sick. If that's not a mother, what is? Yuuta accepts you, accepts your love. That's why he came all this way by himself to see you. Why can't you reach out and take his hand?"

Kawashima-sensei's eyes filled with tears at her words. She began to run back to the hospital.

"Yankumi…" I said softly. I felt like I would cry myself.

"Come on, Kana. This isn't over yet," she said, tugging me along.

We ran back to the hospital, just as the car with Yuuta and his grandparents inside was pulling away.

"Yuuta!" Kawashima-sensei shouted, running past the astonished 3-D and Shinohara-san. We ran after her. She continued to tearfully shout his name as she ran after the car.

Yuuta's head popped up in the backseat. A smile broke out across his face.

The car slowed, and he hopped out into Kawashima-sensei's arms.

"Mama!" he said happily as he hugged her tightly. "Mama, I want to stay with you."

"Are you sure? I won't be able to buy you toys, and you'll have to wait at home until I finish working," she said.

"I can wait. I don't need toys. I won't complain," he said.

"Yuuta, I…I'm not your real-"

"You're my mom! That's all that matters," he said firmly. They hugged each other, and everyone smiled.

When Yuuta's grandparents approached them, Kawashima-sensei asked if she could take custody of Yuuta.

"If Yuuta wants it this bad, then there's nothing else we can do," his grandfather said.

"If it's for your happiness, then this might be better for everyone," his grandmother agreed.

"Please take care of him," they said to Kawashima-sensei, who tearfully thanked them. 3-D cheered as Yuuta once again hugged his mother.

Yuuta looked over at us and Shin gave him the peace sign. Yuuta grinned and returned it.

"Yay!" everyone shouted, picking him up and throwing him in the air.

"So…even if you're not blood related, you can be family," Shin said, standing off to the side with me.

"Are you trying to say something?" I asked him. He smiled.

"You can't say you don't have a family anymore," he said, watching 3-D toss Yuuta around.

I felt myself smiling when I realized what he meant. "I guess not," I said.

"Oi, Kana, Shin, come join us!" Uchi said, pulling us into the circle. Yuuta came and hugged me.

"Thanks for being so nice to me," he said sweetly, and I ruffled his hair.

"Anytime," I answered.

* * *

When I finally broke away from the group and walked home, I remembered that I had completely forgotten about something important. It was Shun's birthday.

I went to a florist and picked out a few white flowers before dropping by a bakery and buying a small white cake.

White was Shun's favorite color, which was pretty surprising for a guy like him. The other members thought it was because he was into Caucasian girls or whatever, but I sort of knew the reason. White symbolized innocence, honesty, a pure heart. Shun valued that strongly, though he would never say it openly. It was with these values that he formed my teenage years, and though I couldn't quite call myself innocent, it resounded within me to try to make good decisions based on these values.

"Happy Birthday," I said softly when I returned to the café. Shun looked up in surprise from where he stood, doing the last bit of cleaning up around the kitchen.

"Kana…" he said as I placed the white flowers and the cake on the counter. "You remembered?"

"Well, I sort of forgot until a little while ago," I admitted, but he laughed.

"I can't even remember my own birthday," he said. "Come on, let's eat this cake. For once, it's not something from our own selection."

"Where are the others?" I asked as he pulled out two plates and two forks.

"I'm not sure," he said, as we began to eat. "It's a Friday night. They're probably out partying."

After we had finished, I washed the plates as Shun decorated around the café with the flowers I had bought.

"Ne, Shun?" I said, watching him carefully. He looked up. "I…you're my family…I love you too."

Shun gave me a soft smile before walking over. "We'll always be family," he said, patting my shoulder. I gave him a quick hug before pulling away, a bit embarrassed. We still had to get used to this.

"Hey Kana…what would you say if I were to stop all of this?" he said suddenly.

"All…of this?" I asked.

"Not the café, but…you know, being a "gang", so to speak."

I fell silent. Yeah, being in a "gang" was supposedly bad, but this was all I knew.

"We wouldn't break up our group. I'm just saying, maybe it's time that we focus on just our jobs instead of protecting territory and fighting others for it. We're all doing pretty well, and I'm afraid that if we keep this territory thing up, some of us will lose our jobs."

"You've…really been thinking about this, haven't you?" I asked him.

He nodded. "I just want what's best for us. We're not young, unruly teenagers anymore. We need to start taking advantage of the opportunities in front of us before it's too late. I don't want this group to be the only thing you have in mind for your future, Kana."

At his explanation, I felt at ease. We wouldn't disperse, we wouldn't get rid of the café or our home.

"Okay," I said with a smile. "To a good year," I said, clinking my glass with Shun's.

"To change," he replied.

* * *

A week later, we found out that Yuuta was starting elementary school locally. He came to see us before heading off.

"If anything happens to you at school, you let us know, okay?" Shin told him. He nodded.

"Make sure you treasure your mom!" Uchi said, but of course, we really didn't need to tell him that.

"Mom, I want to go over to Yankumi's again. They taught me cool things!" he said, running up to Kawashima-sensei. He began to list off some yakuza related phrases.

"Ah…we were, um…playing a game," Yankumi said weakly. Shin and I exchanged a look and he rolled his eyes.

"Mom, I want to go to Shirokin for high school!" Yuuta continued.

"Okay Yuuta! We'll be waiting!" Kuma said. Huh?

"But Kuma, you won't be here," Yankumi said.

"Ah!" Kuma said in realization.

"Oh, but then again, Kuma probably will be," Yankumi added with a grin.

The class began to laugh and point fingers at him.

"You will, you will!" Yuuta said happily as everyone teased Kuma.

'What a family,' I thought as Shin turned to smile at me. 'But I could never ask for anything better.'

* * *

_*Daruma-san ga Koronda: Japanese version of red-light, green-light_  
_*Doing the back flip on flip bars is actually a PE requirement for elementary school kids in Japan. I would so fail. My cousins were actually practicing one summer when I went to visit._

**Author's Note: Thanks for all your encouraging comments while I was gone. College is...a pain in the butt, to say the least. lol  
Hopefully, it won't take me as long to get the next chapter out. It's my favorite episode in Season 1, so I'm excited. :) I realize that Kana seems a little detached from the story, but slowly, her story will become more integrated with what's going on. Thanks for the constructive criticism on that.  
Let me know what you think! Comments are super appreciated. **


	23. Chapter 23: Motivation Team?

**Motivation Team?**

**whitewhite: **Just to clear things up...Actually, Yuuta's story is over. Sorry! I meant this next episode, Kuro's, is my favorite. But I really do like Yuuta's story and I wish they followed up on it in the , you'll enjoy this one.

* * *

"Hey Shun, I haven't seen Chiba and the others around," I said as I was about to leave for school.

He frowned. "Really? They've been around."

I shrugged. Maybe it was just me. Then again, I wasn't really going out of my way to see Chiba. He seemed to be in a sour mood lately.

When I got to school, I looked up and saw a long white banner sign hanging on the side of the school. It read: **Shirokin High School's Volleyball Team Going to Nationals. **I was pretty impressed. It wasn't every high school that made it this far. This meant that they would be competing against other schools from different prefectures around the nation.

Other 3-D students stopped to admire the sign beside me.

"Morning, Kana!" Uchi greeted me with a pat on the shoulder. "Isn't this awesome?" I nodded.

Soon, Shin, Kuma, Minami, and Noda also showed up, and we lingered for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Yankumi crashed into Kuma from behind, mumbling about being late to a teacher's meeting.

"Why are you guys just standing there?" she demanded.

Shin tilted his head toward the sign. She stood up and stared in awe.

"Wow. Not bad, not bad!" she said. "Hard work really pays off, right?"

"Hey, aren't you late?" Uchi asked her.

"Right? Right…RIGHT! I'm late! Don't be late you guys!" she shouted as she ran off.

Noda chuckled. "Geez, that teacher's going to get it someday."

"Come on, guys. Let's get to it," Shin said, leading the way. We ambled on to our classroom. Maybe our school would finally be recognized for something other than our not-so-great reputation for fighting and the like. Was that too much to ask?

* * *

Yankumi burst excitedly into homeroom. "Good morning!" She ran up to the two guys in our class who were on the volleyball team. "I didn't know you guys played volleyball! Good job!" She began to sing some song that we didn't recognize. We stared blankly at her. "Anyways, do your best!" she said.

"But they probably won't play anyways. They've been on the bench all year," Kuma said.

"Oh, so you guys are subs," Yankumi said, and the two looked depressed. "No matter! You guys are going national! We should cheer them on as a class, right?" she said brightly.

"But if we're going national, we need cheerleaders," Minami said. This got the guys excited and they began to call Minami a genius.

"But…we don't have girls at our school," Shin cut in, crushing their excitement.

"And don't look at me. Short skirt, tight shirt, pom-poms…no way," I said to the guys who turned to look at me hopefully.

"Man, Kana, it doesn't hurt to act girly sometimes, you know," Minami said to me annoyingly. I made a face at him.

"Dude, that's why being at an all guys' school sucks!" Noda shouted. I shook my head, amused that it took an event like this for them to notice.

"Fine, I guess there's no choice," we heard Yankumi say. She was sitting on a desk, tugging at her hair in a girly fashion. "If you insist so badly, I'll do it, since it's for my cute little students."

"No one asked you," Shin said briskly, and all the guys nodded, but she stood up on the desk anyways.

"The plan to cheer on the volleyball team for the National Championship, OH!" she shouted. Everyone just stared. I stifled a laugh. Yankumi as a cheerleader would be hilarious.

* * *

We were told to meet her in the gym in fifteen minutes. We waited impatiently, but she didn't show up. The male teachers, however, came with cameras. Apparently, Yankumi's plan was to have Fujiyama-sensei and Kawashima-sensei join her in her "cheerleader" plan. But Fujiyama-sensei and Kawashima-sensei stood to the side, not having changed at all.

"Sorry for the wait!" we heard a voice. I looked up and had to bury my head in Uchi's shoulder to keep from laughing. Uchi held onto my shaking shoulders while letting out a sound of utter disbelief.

Yankumi was wearing a red and white cheerleading outfit and holding yellow pom-poms. She began to do a little dumb routine, until she noticed Fujiyama and Kawashima-sensei standing with us.

"How come you two…?" she asked.

"There's no way we could wear something and do something like that," Kawashima-sensei answered matter-of-factly as Fujiyama-sensei nodded.

"Um…how old are you again?" Uchi asked Yankumi slowly, who looked dejected.

"Let's go back," someone suggested. 3-D began to head back as the male teachers packed up their cameras. Uchi dragged me along but not before I got one last look at Yankumi and her ridiculous – yet, though I would never admit it to her, somewhat endearing – cheerleading form.

"What are you guys doing?" Sawatari Kyoutou's voice boomed in the gym as he walked up to us. We pointed at Yankumi.

"Yamaguchi-sensei, are you supposed to be Sailormoon?"

* * *

After that embarrassing episode, we thought Yankumi had given up. But apparently not.

The next morning, we saw a sign on the school bulletin.

**MOTIVATION TEAM FOR THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM: THOSE INTERESTED, SEE TEAM LEADER UCHIYAMA HARUHIKO FROM CLASS 3-D**

This sign was complete with a cartoon picture of mini Uchi, Kuma, Minami, and Noda. Noda and I immediately began to snicker at Uchi's title.

"Hey Uchi, since when were you the team leader?" Minami asked.

"That Yankumi…" Uchi growled.

"Aww, but that picture of you is so cute," I teased. He swatted at my head.

"I swear, if you weren't a girl…"

"So that was her plan…" Shin said. "We should go talk to Yankumi about this."

In class, the guys were voicing their dissent.

"Who said we would do a stupid motivation team?" Uchi complained. "And why am I the leader?"

"See, in my mind, you make the perfect leader. Minami is the assistant leader, Noda is the manager, and Kuma is the flag bearer. We need to help motivate the volleyball team. They're going to nationals! And who else will cheer on besides you guys?" she explained.

"Don't wanna," Minami said.

"But it's only until the league ends…" Yankumi protested.

"We're busy, you know," Noda told her.

Suddenly, Yankumi got this scary glint in her eye. "Of course, there are rewards."

The class stopped and looked at her.

"I will arrange a social gathering with the Houkei University Cheerleaders," she said, whipping out a stack of photos.

"They won't be fooled by that," Shin scoffed under his breath. Much to his surprise, all the guys began to crowd around Yankumi to get their own copy of the photo. They looked as though they were in heaven, and I didn't even want to begin thinking about what they were possibly fantasizing about.

"Stupid idiots," I said, leaning back in my seat.

"We'll do it!" the guys all shouted, clutching their "precious" pictures.

"You guys are too easy," Shin groaned and tugged at me so that we could leave the classroom.

"Why, you don't like college girls?" I asked with a smirk.

He gave me a look. "It's probably just one of Yankumi's tricks," he said as we sat on the stairs outside of class.

"True, but it worked," I pointed out. He just shook his head.

"Society's going to screw us over," he muttered.

"As if it hasn't already."

He stared at me. "You're really negative."

"And you aren't?"

"…Shut up."

* * *

"Yankumi really knows how to please us," Minami said as the six of us walked home after school.

"Wrapped around her finger," Noda agreed.

"It's also called bribing," Shin remarked.

"Since you're not in the motivation team, no cheerleaders for you!" Kuma told him.

"And even if you wanted to join now, you can't!" Uchi said.

"Like I care," he retorted.

Suddenly, he stopped, even as the guys walked on. I looked at him curiously, then looked across the street where he was looking. Shin called Uchi over and pointed out a guy across the street.

"Isn't that Kuro?" I said, surprised. Shin and Uchi looked at me.

"You know Kurosaki?" Shin asked me.

"Long story," I responded to their questioning looks.

As we watched him, Kuro looked up and spotted us. He gave us a long look until we saw a group of guys walk up and begin to talk to him before they all walked away.

After recovering from the shock of not having seen Kuro in years, I was puzzled. Who were those guys with him? They certainly didn't seem like a good bunch. But I still couldn't believe it. It was Kuro. My best friend.

* * *

"How was school?"

I smiled. There was a lot to say. "Well, Yankumi started a motivation team for the volleyball team, and she made Uchi the leader of it," I began, "and she bribed the class into doing it by saying they would be able to meet college cheerleaders."

"Sounds like something high school guys would be interested in," Shun grinned.

I paused. "…I saw Kuro today."

Shun raised a brow. "That friend of yours you told me about?"

"Yeah…I didn't know he was still around…He was with a bunch of scruffy looking guys."

"I'll have Chiba look into it," Shun assured me. I nodded.

"Thanks."

* * *

The next morning, the class tried to pass out fliers to other students. Of course, no one else was interested, so things got a little violent between our class and theirs.

When the motivation team assembled in the gym during the afternoon, I saw that it was made up entirely of 3-D students.

It turned out to be more of a disaster team, though. They seemed to hinder the volleyball team from practice rather than motivate them. Kuma ran around wildly with the flag, Minami beat the drum out of rhythm, Uchi waved his arms around randomly, and the class began to dance and move whichever way they felt like. I rolled my eyes. Like this would get us anywhere.

When Sawatari Kyoutou stormed into the gym, I expected him to break them up. Instead, he scolded them that they weren't coordinated or chanting from their diaphragms. He proceeded to show them the "correct" way to do things, leading them in vocal exercises and such.

I got up and left. No offense, Yankumi, but I wouldn't sit around to watch this. The end result would either amuse me or exasperate me. I hoped it would be the former.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading and commenting! Happy Holidays! :]**


	24. Chapter 24: Ties with Kuro

**Ties with Kuro**

_Previously: Shirokin's volleyball team prepares for nationals. Yankumi gets 3-D to form a motivation team with a bribe. Kana, Uchi, and Shin discover that they all know a guy named Kurosaki, and he's back._

* * *

"He's hanging out with kids who've dropped out of Ara High," Shun told me as I finished cleaning up at the café.

I stared at him. "What?"

"Your friend, Kurosaki. Chiba saw him in town this morning."

I fell silent. I had heard rumors of Kuro dropping out of school a year ago, but I hadn't really paid much attention because I had been dealing with my own things and we hadn't talked in a long time anyway. And now this. Ara High…it made me sad that Kuro was hanging out with the likes of them and that I hadn't been there for him.

My phone rang suddenly, breaking into my thoughts.

"Hey, Kana. Shin's agreed to let us hang out at his apartment tonight. Wanna come?" Uchi asked me.

If anyone knew about Kuro's current situation, it'd be Uchi and Shin. I asked Shun if I could go, and he agreed, as long as I returned before 11.

When I got there, it seemed like it was more of the guys intruding on Shin rather than Shin inviting us over.

"Hey," I said, putting some cookies that I had bought on the way on the table. Kuma instantly went for the cookies, and I looked at the mess around the apartment. Shin sat on the floor against the couch, looking a bit annoyed, since he was probably used to peace and quiet. I gave him an apologetic look before settling on the couch next to Uchi. I was trying not to think of how I'd slept over here only weeks before.

"YES!" Minami shouted as he hit a bull's-eye when playing darts, but hardly anyone was paying attention.

"Man, living on your own must be awesome!" Noda said as he munched on some junk food.

"It's not as easy as you think," Shin said from where he sat on the floor.

"Like taking the trash out?" Uchi asked. I laughed. Shin was probably referring to having to deal with his friends randomly crashing at his place while all Uchi could think about was taking out the trash?

"Hey, do girls ever come here?" Minami asked suddenly. I choked on my drink but tried to appear nonchalant about it. I snuck a quick glance at the back of Shin's head.

"Of course not! Shin doesn't have a girlfriend!" Kuma said matter-of-factly. Minami shrugged while Uchi and Noda nodded.

"Well…yeah…" Shin said suddenly with a strange look on his face.

"EH?" the guys all shouted and surrounded him. I trusted Shin enough to not say anything stupid but the guys' reactions made me roll my eyes.

"You're hiding something from us!" Minami said.

"Come on, fess up!" Uchi demanded.

"What was she like?" Noda asked.

Shin looked bemused. "What was she like?" he asked in contemplating manner. It came to me that he was thinking about Yankumi, not me. And Yankumi was a difficult one to describe for certain.

Kuma suddenly jumped up. "I know! I bet it was your mom and your sister!"

"Something like that," Shin finally said, and the guys backed off, relieved or disappointed, I couldn't tell.

"Besides, I'm here, right?" I said casually.

"Oh yeah, huh. You're a girl," Minami said after a pause. I proceeded to whack him with a pillow.

While the other guys played darts and got riled up over other things, I began to think about Kuro again. I didn't know how to approach the topic. It seemed like Uchi and Shin had some sort of complex history with Kuro and I wasn't sure if it was a touchy subject.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Uchi asked softly. Shin turned to look up at us, and I forced a smile.

"Just…thinking about Kuro," I said slowly.

"Us too," Shin said with a small, somewhat reassuring smile.

"I wonder why he's hanging around our school…" Uchi mused.

"Those guys that were with him…they're Ara High's dropouts," I informed them. The two looked at me, stunned. They didn't ask how I knew, but their reaction was similar to mine.

"Ara? They're a pretty nasty bunch," Uchi said worryingly.

"I hope nothing happens," Shin said.

But I could tell that all of us knew that something would happen anyway. This was Kuro we were talking about. The news about him made the guys fall into a sullen mood, and I didn't feel like pushing them to tell me about their past with Kuro.

* * *

The next morning, we arrived at school to discover that the Volleyball banner was torn and covered in spray paint. It now read: **Shirokin High School's Volleyball Cosplay Contest **in red paint.

"Kuro…" I said softly. I didn't know why he would do this, but who else?

Uchi looked at me, then looked at Shin, who nodded. We would have to settle this ourselves.

We found Kuro in his "hangout" place, which was another empty warehouse by the harbor. He didn't look surprised to see us and had us sit. I stared at him, wondering what had become of that innocent boy I had once known.

"What do you want? We're quite busy, you know," he said to us. His "gang" stood behind him.

""Did you ruin our volleyball banner?" Shin asked coolly.

"Come on, Kuro, did you?" Uchi asked with a smile, trying to appear non-hostile.

"If I did, why does it matter?" he asked casually. "The way that they forsake a student for the name of the school…those kinds of people don't deserve to go to Nationals."

I was confused. Forsake a student? What was this about?

"What do you intend to do?" Shin asked.

"It's obvious. I'm going to crush any chance of them going to Nationals. Seeing Iwamoto suffer will make me happy," Kuro scoffed.

Uchi grabbed his arm as he stood up, but Kuro shrugged him off.

"I can't forgive that teacher!" Kuro shouted, making me jump at his furious outburst. "People like you, pretending to be good students, wouldn't understand."

"Kuro…" I said. When did he become like this?

He smirked, composing himself. "Looking fine, Kana."

"You don't look too bad yourself," I replied. His blond hair, pink tinted sunglasses, black shirt seemed to suit him and his new personality. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

"What, with you getting expelled all the time?" he retorted.

"Kuro!" Uchi warned, glaring at him. I grabbed Uchi's arm to placate him, despite the slight feeling of hurt that struck me from Kuro's harsh words.

"You hang out with these guys now?" Kuro said with a smirk. "Small world."

"Kuro, what happened to us?" I asked, trying to ignore his jabbing remarks.

"You mean the stupid promise we made to each other when we were eleven?"

"No, besides that. We were good friends…"

"Were," he responded. "Not anymore. I'm different from you, from these guys," he said, looking at Shin and Uchi. He then walked out and his group trailed after him.

"What was that all about?" I asked the two. Uchi sighed as he slung an arm across my shoulders.

"Let's go back to school first," Shin said. "We'll explain it there."

Once back at school in our classroom, Shin and Uchi, or rather just Shin, since Uchi seemed too upset to tell the story, began to tell me about Kuro. The three of them had been close buddies during second year, always hanging out and stuff. They'd fight over who got to eat the meat in the ramen, and they'd ditch class together and sleep on the roof. Kuro had also been a really strong player on the volleyball team at the time. However, during regional tournament, he had gotten into a fight with another team's player and had inflicted serious injury on that guy. To avoid being pressed for charges and Shirokin having to drop out of the League, Iwamoto-sensei, the volleyball coach, made Kuro quit school. That way, when asked, the school didn't have to take any responsibility for Kuro's actions.

"No wonder Kuro hates Iwamoto," I said. It wasn't fair, what the school did. I suddenly realized how painful this was for Kuro, and how angry he must be.

"What about you? How do you know Kuro?" Uchi asked me.

"Hatsukoi*," I let out in a rush. I didn't know why, but it was somewhat embarrassing to be admitting that I had been in love with Kuro to two of his close and more recent friends.

Uchi gawked at me while Shin raised a brow. Without looking at them, I told them how when we were young, we used to be neighbors. Kuro and I had pulled a Romeo and Juliet, without the deaths, of course. Our parents had some argument going on, but Kuro and I managed to become best friends through a hole in the fence, so our parents couldn't do anything about it. We had even once run away together, until my parents, who were cops, tracked us down and scolded us. When we were eleven, Kuro and I made a promise to each other that we would always remain friends and then grow up together and get married. At the time, I had seriously thought it was going to happen.

"Awww…" Uchi said softly, patting my head.

"We were eleven, what can I say?" I replied. "Anyways, we both have these necklaces to symbolize that promise." I pulled mine out to show them.

"Ah," Shin said. "I've seen Kuro's."

"Yeah, and whenever we'd ask him about it, he wouldn't tell us," Uchi added.

The three of us fell into silence. A mutual friend was getting caught up in something that could end up a disaster.

"I think we should tell Yankumi about this," Shin said. I was surprised at this suggestion, but, after a brief moment, it made sense. It wasn't like any of us could do anything, as much as I hated to admit it.

The three of us went to Yankumi while the rest of the class was practicing for the motivation team routine.

"Iwamoto did that?" she asked in surprise after Uchi explained why Kuro had a grudge against the school. I left out my part, and luckily, she didn't ask.

"It was so dirty of him, letting go of a student without listening to him first!" Uchi griped.

"Uchi, I understand your anger at the school's method, but it was Kurosaki who caused the incident first," Yankumi pointed out.

"Uchi's worried about Kurosaki," Shin said to mediate.

"We were all good buddies. He may get angry and violent easily, but he's not a bad guy," Uchi defended Kuro.

"That's why we can't leave him alone. If h were still at school, he'd be right here, in 3-D with the rest of us," Shin explained. That thought made me realize how big of an impact a single action could have.

"When he got expelled, we couldn't do anything," Uchi said sadly. I patted his shoulder, feeling bad that I hadn't even given Kuro a second thought at that time. If I had, I probably would have met Uchi and Shin a lot sooner.

"All right, I understand," Yankumi said sympathetically. "We'll have to do something about it before he tries to ruin the volleyball league."

"He's probably going after Iwamoto," Shin said suddenly. "Iwamoto is the person he most hates."

"And knowing Kuro, he's not going to waste any time doing so," I said grimly. We set out immediately to find them.

* * *

After a bit of searching, we found Kurosaki pinning Iwamoto against a fence by the overpass.

Yankumi poked Kuro's cheek and smiled brightly when he turned.

"If you dwell too long on the past, you'll get old," she said cheerfully.

"What? Who the hell are you?" he demanded angrily, grabbing her collar.

"She's our homeroom teacher," Uchi said, and Kuro looked annoyed.

"You hang out with teachers now?" he asked coldly.

"Since Iwamoto-sensei is also here, why don't you say what you want, and we'll listen," Yankumi said, smiling.

"None of your business," Kuro said and released her, brushing past us.

I ran after him and he glared.

"Kana, give up. It's over," he said. I stood in front of him.

"We promised that our friendship had no end," I said calmly. Somewhere in there, the old Kuro still had to remain.

"Yeah? Well I've got my own friends now," he said, tearing off his necklace and throwing it to the ground. He walked away quickly.

I leaned down to pick his necklace up. He had kept it all these years…but was it really over?

"Come on, Kana," Uchi said, coming over. I held the necklace in my hand and looked up at Uchi, who seemed to understand. He gave me a quick hug before pulling me to follow Yankumi, Shin, and Iwamoto. There was a serious discussion at hand.

At Shin's, Yankumi asked Iwamoto if there was seriously nothing he could have done to prevent Kurosaki's expulsion. He responded that he couldn't go against the entire school board and expect to win.

"Then go and apologize to Kurosaki. Then maybe you can talk things over with him, and he'll understand the situation better," Yankumi said.

"Wait a minute," Iwamoto protested. "He's not the type to accept apologies. It'd be pointless."

"That's no way to talk!" Uchi growled, but Shin held him back.

"Pointless?" Yankumi asked. "It shouldn't matter who you are. When a person does something wrong, one should apologize. You should show him that."

"I…I can't," he responded.

"Who cares if Kuro doesn't accept your apology! You know you did him a huge injustice, and you owe him that much," I said angrily. "Or does your pride not allow you to bow your head to others?"

"Kana," Yankumi said, and I shut up, but it was hard not to glare at him. Iwamoto stared at me.

"I'm sorry," he said before turning and walking out the door. Why was he apologizing? Because he couldn't apologize to Kurosaki? Was that supposed to appease us?

I clenched Kuro's necklace in my fist. I couldn't tell who had committed the greater sin.

Later, when I passed Shirokin on the way back, I heard the sound of volleyballs striking the ground. I was surprised. Who would be practicing at this hour?

When I walked into the gym, I was surprised to see Kuro serving volleyballs around the gym. He was surprised when I went over and hit it back to him.

"Hey," I said.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter. Are you going to serve it or not?"

He hit the ball to me, and I hit it back. It was just like old times. We would do something else to get our minds off of anything that frustrated us.

"Are you still really mad about getting expelled?" I asked.

He stiffened. "What are you talking about?" he asked, but his serve veered off course.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Not like you could have done anything anyways," he scoffed.

"And anything you do can't stop the volleyball team from going to nationals," a voice said. We turned and saw Yankumi standing at the entrance of the gym. "You know, your friends are worried about you. Sawada, Uchiyama, Kana. They all want to do something for you."

"Friends?" Kuro scoffed. "My friends are the people I hang out with now. Don't lecture me like you know everything!" He threw the volleyball to the ground and stalked out. I stared after him, not wanting to accept that this was who he was now.

"Yankumi?" I asked softly. "Even people like him…can they change?"

Yankumi smiled warmly and nodded. "Of course. Believe in him, Kana. That's what he needs."

I nodded and reached for Kuro's necklace in my pocket. I believed in him. I just hoped someone believed in me too.

* * *

_*Hatsukoi: First love/crush_

**Author's note: Good? Bad? Annoyed with a character? Too much / too little going on? If you could comment and let me know, that'd be great! Also, I'd love to hear how you all got into Gokusen. Did you start with the manga? Did you watch it for a certain actor? Was it one of your first dramas? It'd be cool to know a little more about the fans in this fandom. :) **


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